Transformers the Angel Battles
by Fanboyimus Prime
Summary: The year is 2015. The war between humanity and the angels has begun. However it is not only the conflict in the universe. Can Earth survive the Transformers?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Transformers are owned by Hasbro, and Neon Genesis Evangelion is owned by Gainax.

The satellites over Earth didn't detect the celestial objects until it was too late. The golden spaceship and the more angular purple one had a red trails as they flew through the Earth's atmosphere.

The purple one fell towards where Antarctica used to be. Now it was a sea of death that few would even think of visiting let alone dare such a feat. The foul and dead ocean was the perfect home for the inhabitants of the ship.

However the golden ship was making its way for the city of Tokyo-3. It was a city under siege by a rampaging giant monster. Called the third Angel by NERV its true name was Sachiel. Tanks and jets, missiles and artillery did nothing to stop its quest to find Lilith.

A falling starship was another matter entirely. The ship hit Sachiel head on and his AT Field was of no used as the massive die cast space ship plowed through Toyko-3 like the buildings were made of Popsicle sticks.

It was an insane sight to Shinji Ikari. He considered himself lucky that the rail station was the other direction from where the massive space ship was going. He also was glad he was in a ghost town; otherwise there would be an untold amount of dead people.

'Should I go look or see my father,' Shinji thought to himself. It was true Shinji was curious as to why his father had summoned him to Tokyo-3. However Shinji recalled exactly what Gendo Ikari had last said to him. Or at least in the last thing that could be considered a real conversation.

"I'll go see what the aliens look like," Shinji said trying psyche himself up. "Show him who is weak."

With that thought Shinji moved through Tokyo-3 towards the alien spaceship. Visions of various science fiction shows danced in his head as he made his way around, over and under various bits and pieces of debris. On his way through the city Shinji wondered where the people were. It truly was a ghost town. The only other person he might have seen the whole time he had been in Toyko-3 was a blue haired ghost.

'Was this my father's idea of a sick joke? Build an empty city and stage a movie to mess with me?' Shinji mused. However something at the tip of his mind, and the stuff of nightmares made him dismiss that thought. Also there were parked cars and he could see food through the storefront windows of the stores he passed.

A half an hour into the trek and Shinji wished he bought some water or a sports drink at the train station before he left. A Pocari Sweat would be so good. Shinji also at this point wished he knew how to hotwire a car. His feet were starting to ache and that wasn't a pleasant sensation.

Suddenly an object flew out of the ship. Shinji only managed to see it for a brief moment before it flew across the city. Given it didn't shoot at death ray at him, it likely wasn't armed. Or killing a lone teen wasn't worth the effect and energy.

However the activity from the ship gave Shinji hope that whatever life form on the ship was a live. He just hoped they were friendly, and if they possibly had room an extra passenger if they went back home.

It took Shinji another twenty minutes to get to the spaceship. He was very tired, covered in sweat, and staring in awe of the ship. Whatever it was, it was tough. The crash landed didn't even dent it. Shinji also noted how massive the ship was. It was made for beings much larger then humans.

It was then the cargo bay door opened. Seven giant robots walked out of it. The smallest of them was bright yellow and Shinji figured he was at least twice as large as the average man. Another one that was green and silver was only slightly taller then the yellow one. Four others were about the same height and a variety of colors. Two of them were red and one seemed amused and the other was cautious. A blue one had a smile on his face, but his eyes seemed to be taking in any and everything. The white and blue one seemed look at everything with interest. Only it seemed more of a scientific interest then the blue one and one of the red ones. Shinji really had no idea exactly how tall they were exactly. Finally was the biggest and felt like the leader of the group. That one was easily head and shoulders above the other four.

They all appeared to be wearing car parts like it was clothing. That was something Shinji found very strange. And he wondered if they could turn into cars and things. He also wondered if they where auxons of another race.

For a moment the robots and Shinji looked at each other. That is they all heard the squeaking of tires. Shinji turned and saw getting out of a car a women he had only seen in a photo. He completely forgot about her in all the excitement.

Misato Katsuragi was dumbfounded seeing the boy she was supposed to pick up standing in front of a group of giant robots. Even after having seen Eva 00 and Eva 01 she was still in awe at the sight. She noticed they had a sense of grace and classic mecha lines that the Evas lacked.

'Where did that thought come from?' Misato thought.

Shinji wondered how he would break the ice. He was making first contact between humanity and an alien race! He had no idea what to say. He went with his first instinct.

He raised his hand in a familiar V shape. "Live Long and Prosper."

'Wait my first thought was to use something from Star Trek?' Shinji thought in surprise.

"Peace and long life," The leader said with a straight face. The other robots seemed to be amused at the whole thing.

"How…how do you know of that?" Misato gasped.

"The internet," The leader calmly explained.

Shinji then turned to Misato. He wondered exactly who she was and what she did for his father. The whole mysterious crap his father was pulling was damn annoying and possibly life threatening if that rampaging monster was involved. Shinji had seen monster movies. Fighting those things with no matter what bleeding edge scientific weapon never went that well. Or the woman behind him could be his new step-mom for all he knew.

Misato rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Look, um..." she said nerviously.

"Did what my father wants me for involve that rampaging monster the JSSF was fighting?" Shinji asked. "Or did I just pick a bad day to come here?"

"Yes," Misato admitted.

Shinji gave Misato an amused smile. Shinji considered having dodged a nuclear weapon since he didn't have to fight that monster. Of course he didn't put it beyond his father just loading him into a catapult and throwing him at the monster. Or some other stupid and insane plan that would lead to his demise.

"Well he was in their parking space," Shinji remarked with a slight smile "And I don't think his force field was made to take having a starship crash on it."

"Yeah, that was never something considered," Misato admitted. Really who would have thought an alien space ship would land on the 3rd Angel?

"Given how that is now a smear on the front of the Ark I don't think it'll be bothering anyone," The second smallest robot said.

"Who are you? And what are you?" Shinji asked.

"We're Autobots. We're from Cybertron, a planet far from Earth that orbits what you call Lamba Scorpii or Shaula," the leader explained in a clam tone.

"That's awesome," Shinji said in awe.

"I am Optimus Prime," the red and blue robot said for introduction.

The white and blue robot to the right of Optimus Prime said "I'm Wheeljack." What surprised Shinji and Misato was that the sides of Wheeljack's head glowed when he talked.

"Wheeljack is the head scientist on the Ark," Optimus Prime explained.

"More like mad scientist," The short green and silver robot grumbled.

"Brawn no need to be mean," A blue robot chided in a good-natured way.

"Smokescreen one of my intelligent officers," Optimus Prime informed them.

The blue robot with a pleasing smile on his face waved. Misato knew he was paying close attention to her and Shinji. The robot seemed to be friendly but it was definitely to get closer to people. It reminded her of her ex-boyfriend for some reason.

"Name's Ironhide," Ironhide told them with some accent Misato and Shinji couldn't place.

"The name is Brawn," Brawn said in a no nonsense tone. "If you need it moved I'm your bot."

The final Autobot grinned. "I'm Sideswipe."

"I'm Shinji Ikari," Shinji stated hoping his voice won't crack. "And it's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Captain Misato Katsuragi of NERV," Misato said to the Autobots.

"A pleasure to meet you Captain," Smokescreen said with a warm smile. Misato almost believed it was a real one.

"Shinji we need to get out of here," Misato stated in a firm commanding tone. "We're going to have to explain what happened to the 3rd Angel."

"My father ordered me there to deal with that giant monster, with no experience and I didn't know giant monsters even existed until day." Shinji sighed. They really expected whatever he was called for to work out?

Ironhide got on one knee and looked Shinji as close to the eye as he could."We got your back Shinji."

Shinji felt deeply touched by that. "Thank you." He then got into Misato's Renault Alpine.

The Autobots transformed and followed the car. Something about the whole situation around Shinji didn't feel right to them. And they could very little to show proof of the existence of NERV on the terran internet.

V-V-V

Gendo Ikari wondered why the Renault Alpine containing the Third Child and Captain Katsuragi was coming into the Eva Bay. Something Captain Katsuragi said about having important news. Yet nothing like this was in the Scenario. That Shinji looked extremely happy as he got out of the car ate at Gendo.

"So this is where dad sends his time?" Shinji commented as he looked around the massive sports stadium they were inside.

"Correct!" The catwalk above them lit up dramatically, and Gendo Ikari was spotlit as he looked down on them. However Shinji wasn't impressed.

"Drama queen," Shinji muttered.

"I see you have arrived. Excellent timing," he said. "Doctor Akagi. Prepare to launch." he ordered.

"Oh that giant monster?" Shinji remarked as he put his pants into his pockets. "Well he's dead. Really really dead."

Up on the catwalk, Gendo and Ritsuko were arguing. Misato looked a bit embarrassed as NERV wasn't making a good impression on someone they vitally needed.

Down in the Eva bay Shinji was pondering the only mystery he had left. That mysterious girl he saw. And after all that had happened it was completely tame and probably easy to get an answer to.

"Say are there any blue haired girls around here?" Shinji asked Misato.

"You mean Rei?" the busty purple haired woman asked with a slightly confused expression. "Why do you ask?"

"She was there one moment, next thing I know she's vanished; then I see a giant monster, and alien space ship crash into said giant monster," Shinji replied. "I hope she's alright given all the insanity that's happened today."

"Wait a... Hang on, what did you just say? Alien space ship?" Ritsuko asked blankly. Was the Third Child mentally unstable?

"Yeah nice guys in it too," Shinji stated. "Well really big robots. Not sure they're auxons or not."

Misato wondered how she was going to explain that and not appear crazy. She sighed and admitted without physical evidence she was going to be put into a straightjacket. And Shinji wasn't helping.

Gendo stared blankly down. "Captain Katsuragi, did the Third receive any cranial injuries on his way here?"

It was then a red 18 wheeler, a white and blue Mustang GT, a blue Subaru Impreza WRC rally car, a red van, and a red Dodge Viper drove into the Eva bay with a green Hummer SUV and a yellow Volkswagon Beetle taking up the rear of the caravan. The extremely odd thing was none of those vehicles had a driver.

Gendo glared. "What game are you playing, Third? Where did you get these Radio-controlled junkers from?"

"Slagger," the Dodge Viper loudly remarked. Gendo had no idea what exactly that meant but he could tell it was a derogatory term.

"Captain Katsuragi. End this foolishness right nowwww..." Gendo's rant trailed off as his eyes bulged out on stalks as the vehicles shifted shape into humanoid robots. Only Misato and Shinji were able to take what happened in stride.

The pit crew of the Eva bay dropped their tools at the sight. The bay was filled with the almost thunderous sound of metal hitting metal. The size of the Eva bay was the only thing keeping the smell of urine and feces from becoming overpowering.

"What the Hell?" Gendo exclaimed. He was so shocked that everyone could hear the complete shock and fear in his voice.

"Some welcoming that is," Bumblebee commented as he shook his head.

"Oh... Oh my..." he said, sounding flabbergasted. Gendo didn't know what to do right now. The Scenario, had been blown clean out of the door and was on fire.

"And this is the guy everyone is entrusting their lives to?" Ironhide asked. "I certainly can't see why he's the leader."

"And who are you all?" Gendo said fiercely, wishing he was able to intimidate them in someway.

"We're Autobots," Optimus Prime said going into a preplanned speech. "We come from Cybertron, a planet far from Earth orbiting what you call Lamba Scorpii or Shaula."

"You might want to record that Optimus," Ironhide told his friend. "Given we're probably need to repeat it yet again at some point."

"Always post it on Youtube," Smokescreen interjected with a smirk.

The Autobots looked around the massive chamber. It was big enough for Omega Supreme to move into and room for him to actually have his own private apartment. Then Sideswipe saw what the Eva bay was made for. The massive purple Evangelion 01.

"What in Primus's name is that thing?" Sideswipe asked pointing at Eva 01 "That is the ugliest Guardian class robot I've ever seen in my life."

"What?" Ristuko Akagi said, sounding furious. "That is Mankind's Ultimate Fighting Machine, the Bio-Mechanical Evangelion Unit 01!"

"That's...transorganic?" Wheeljack asked in surprise. He then started scanning Eva 01.

Under Wheeljack's various forms of sight and sonodar studied the Evangelion. No detail about it was lost to him. He noticed an empty spot under the cockpit would be set for the "Dummy Plug Project". Instantly Wheeljack thought of good use for the empty space. He noted each flaw he saw and started thinking of ways to correct them. He also started planning various improvements to bring the transorganic closer to Cybertronian standards.

The transorganic fighting machine appeared to be more of a proof of concept prototype to the Autobot inventor then a finished project. It was impressive and creative in many ways, but definitely not ready for combat. The power system alone was laughable.

"Hi," Shinji said to Ritsuko Akagi "I'm Shinji Ikari and Wheeljack here is their head scientist. And I'm sure he could improve the Eva with one of his hands tied behind his back."

"Commander..." Ritsuko whispered to Gendo, sounding worried. They kept the creator of Eva-04 far away from the prototypes for a reason. Now an alien intelligence was standing in front of them.

"You'll make me blush," Wheeljack said "Though you are right. This Evangelion as you called it really is transorganic. I wonder what sort of neural interface would be needed for someone to pilot it. There's also the lack of an internal power source beyond some of the crudest batteries I've ever seen. Nuclear Fusion or even Fission would be a much better choice."

"They suffice for our purposes," Gendo said stiffly.

"Why hello," Wheeljack said to seemingly thin air. "Hey Prime their computer is amazing. Sorry MAGI is amazing."

Ritsuko and Gendo both paled. They had the same thought of "Oh hell". Neither had imagined MAGI to be able to converse beyond analyzing information given to it and spitting out a percentage of success.

"Yeah she is," Sideswipe commented.

Brawn and Sideswipe then laughed at some unheard joke. Something about it really unnerved Gendo, beyond it being two robots and computer system he thought he knew how it worked.. He could easily imagine the humor being at his expense.

"Yeah I think that is pretty funny MAGI," Sideswipe commented. "Almost as good as an Armorhide show."

"She's really happy for some intelligent conversation for once," Wheeljack noted. "And is finding the equations for transwarp to be amazing."

"You... You're speaking with mother?" Ritsuko whispered.

"Yeah," Wheeljack said having heard her. "She also thinks your choice in boyfriends is horrible. Interesting…she considers me prime boyfriend material. But I don't have the Matrix."

The Autobots groaned at Wheeljack's joke. At least that's what everyone assumed what sounded like a cross between a computer beep and car engine stalling was.

"That wasn't very funny Wheeljack," Brawn groaned.

"Yeah, won't quit your day job," Sideswipe remarked.

"Who is MAGI?" Shinji quietly asked Misato.

"The supercomputer system that runs the day-to-day operations of NERV and Tokyo-3..." Misato said; her mind boggling at what she had just witnessed.

"Ack!" Ritsuko said as she then slumped to her knees, apparently having a mental breakdown. She couldn't believe any of this was happening. Her dead mother couldn't have gotten a boyfriend. Especially one that was transformable robot from outer space. It was just impossible!

To amuse himself Brawn picked up a forklift and started lifting it effortlessly. It amazed and scared the hell out of the Eva bay crew. Bumblebee ate some energon goodies and was taking in everything around him.

"Hey can humans eat those?" Shinji asked. Bumblebee shook his head.

"They'd likely kill you."

"Or it'd interact with your body like being hit with lightning," Sideswipe mused. "A servo salad and all the stuff that could be added to it would probably also be as bad for you."

"Interesting," Wheeljack mused out loud. "MAGI and I have gone over the data and if we use Gear's air compression jets as the basis of a gun it'd be able to go through the force field the 'Angels' and the transorganics make."

"What about the weapons they already have available for the transorganic?" Optimus Prime asked concerned given the half completed state of Evangelion 01.

"The preexisting weapons are slag," Wheeljack replied with disgust. "Going by what MAGI has told me the guns are completely useless unless at pointblank range. Which defeats the purpose of them. The knives are just...knives. An axe would be a more optimal weapon. Possibly a thermal sword like Swoop has would work as well."

"We're still testing the good stuff at NERV-04, in the US," Misato interjected.

"So the pilot has to go into battle at the last minute with slag," Ironhide nearly growled with an annoyed expression on his face. "And what caused the Angel to come here anyway?"

"That is on a need to know basis," Gendo stated coldly. The Autobots filed away that bit of information.

Shinji stared up at his father. The 'man' was exactly the same as the last time he saw him. Shinji almost snorted. He had done something that'd get him in the history books. Gendo Ikari's opinion wasn't as important to Shinji anymore.

"Well dad," Shinji said with heavy sarcasm. "What did you want me for anyway?"

"You are to pilot the Eva 01," he said, laying down the law.

"How much you paying me to do that?" Shinji asked and tried to recall what professional athletes made before Second Impact.

Gendo glared down at him. He hadn't expected the shy and meek Third Child to ask about payment. He expected some whining. Then he figured wheeling out Rei might help soften the Third Child up.

"Well given we don't have some giant monster breathing down our necks," Shinji remarked. "I guess you never figured I'd want really good pay to drive a giant robot. And full health care and dental."

Gendo turned to Akagi. "The Third is useless. Get Rei to do it."

"Man what a cheapskate," Sideswipe stage whispered to Smokescreen. The spy nodded.

"Silence you," Gendo demanded in a grim tone.

"I could always dump my lubricant on him," Sideswipe told Shinji.

Shinji chuckled weakly."Go for it."

Gendo wisely moved away from Sideswipe. The Autobot simply stared menacingly at the NERV Supreme Commander.

Misato blinked. "Sir, he's your son."

"Irrelevant," Gendo coldly stated. "As far as I am concerned. I. Have. No. Son."

"And that's how he's felt since mom died," Shinji bitterly snapped. "Guess it cut into his brooding time."

Gendo snarled, before he glanced at a panel. "Be thankful that you still may be of use, Third Child. Otherwise..." he left the threat hanging before he left.

"Wow that was fun," Shinji sighed and turned to Optimus Prime "So when you guys leave for Cybertron you got room for me?"

"And that is supposed to be the leader of your group to save this world?" Optimus Prime asked in shock at the whole display. Total disregard for life, keeping vital information from possible allies, and trying to intimidate others to do his bidding…this was the sort of person they wanted as a leader? It was simply madness to the Matrix Bearer.

Misato shrugged. "He pays the bills, so he's the boss."

"I would never use my troops or noncombatants as if they were merely replaceable toys that had no real value." Optimus Prime orated in with such conviction that everyone believed him.

Ritsuko shrugged helplessly. "He used to be a lot nice, apparently. Before his wife died."

"Mom I vaguely remember...him not so much," Shinji commented."Well other then the dumping me off like I was last weeks trash."

The MAGI super computer made a rude sound and displayed several emoticons to display what Naoko thought. Shinji smiled as he realized even the computers thought his father was a cold hearted jerk.

"Yeah I agree," Wheeljack nodded. "Amazing, you have a higher level of intelligence then Teletran One. I wonder if upload into a Cybertronian body is possible."

A "^_^ 3" emoticon appeared.

"Now if only she'd turn off the lights where the supreme loser is," Sideswipe laughed.

"Or turn them on if he's sitting in the dark like a vampire," Brawn mused out loud. "Pity she can't stake him."

Another smiley face appeared on the monitor.

"Wow she really must have lacked intelligent conversation," Shinji noted.

Misato smiled, before she remembered something. "Hey, ah..."

"Yes?" Shinji asked.

"Anyone else feel like they were being watched on the way here?"

"Won't surprise me if Laserbeak was around," Ironhide grumbled. "For Cybertron's sake its like he enjoys spying on us."

"Or another of Soundwave's lackeys." Sideswipe nearly snarled.

Brawn chuckled. "Let's hope we can get to kick some Decepti-can soon."

"Only way we won't is if Starscream took over," Smokescreen added to the conversation. "And the Pit hasn't gone cold yet."

"With the holes in security this place has Laserbeak and Ravage could move in without anyone telling," Ironhide sighed. He nearly lost count of the flaws this place had.

The Tannoy crackled into life. "Ah... Captain Katsuragi?"

"Captain, the JSSDF says they got something weird on Radar, heading this way..."

"My scanners are detecting Decepticon signatures," Optimus Prime stated firmly. "That means you better get out of our way. Your Eva's AT field might hold off Decepticon weaponry, but the power cord would get cut and after the batteries died...so would the pilot."

"Optimus..." Bumblebee spoke up. "I'm also detecting a faint Autobot signal trailing them..."

"That has to be Swoop or Tracks," Ironhide commented. "Since Sideswipe and Wheeljack are here with us."

"And Gears won't go out alone," Smokescreen noted with a slight smile. "Plus they could probably hear his complaining nearly a megamile away."

"Just as well that the City was already lowered for the Third," Misato commented.

"Well tell me why that's called the Third Angel," Wheeljack asked. "Given there's no record of there being a first or second one to attack Earth."

Misato looked into the distance. "The First Angel... Adam... caused Second Impact 15 years ago..."

"Crossing referencing records," Optimus Prime said with his optics glowing. "Points to you being nearly at ground zero for that event."

"And for Gendo Ikari to leave the area only the day before it happened," Wheeljack interjected. "Even I find that suspedt."

Misato stared. "What?"

"You didn't know he was part the expedition your father lead?" Sideswipe asked shocked.

She shook her head. "I can't remember much of it...Only my father, sacrificing himself to save me..."

"So the guy that's supposed to save the world," Sideswipe shook his head disgust."Treats his son like slag, and avoided being at ground zero for a planetary shokaract."

"What a bastard, as you humans say," Brawn summed up.

"This really doesn't bode well for anyone," Smokescreen declared. From what he had seen, Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari had all the morals of Shockwave and Swindle with the megalomania and arrogance of Starscream.

"I won't mind giving him to Grimlock and the Dinobots for a few breems," Ironhide said with a slight smile.

"Hear hear," Shinji stated softly. He had no idea who Grimlock and the Dinobots were but had a feeling their care would leave Gendo a wreck. Or very dead. Either would be good with Shinji.

"Shinji," Optimus Prime said in a concerned tone. "I need you to come with us. The Ark would be far safer for you then here with Commander Gendo Ikari." Optimus Prime said. His first impression of Commander Gendo Ikari was that he was the worst traits of Megatron, Shockwave, Starscream and Swindle. Not a good a sign for this world. And reminded Optimus Prime of what started the 3rd Cybertronian War then he liked.

"Thank you," The Third Child said softly.

"Autobots," Optimus Prime ordered. "Transform…"

The Autobots transformed. Shinji got into Sideswipe.

"And roll out!"

Misato sighed. "I guess I'd better follow them." she said, getting into her Renault Alpine.

V-V-V

The JSSF was starting to look bad. They were unable to do anything to the giant monster, and many doubted even the N2 mine would do anything. They merely stood by and watched as the "Third Child" of the Mandrake Report made first contact with an alien race.

The fact they didn't kill him and became NERV's problem helped a lot. Let them deal with the arrogant Supreme Commander Ikari. And if they killed him no one in the JSSF would shed any tears.

In the JSSF command center everyone gave a sigh of relief. That is until there was a massive amount of objects on the radar.

Major Hakate sidled up to his superior. "Um, sir?"

"This looks bad," General Toru said softly as the mass was viewed via satellite.

It was a second group of aliens. They were coming to Tokyo-3 and they seemed different. Armed to the teeth, and heading straight for the alien ship. They radiated menace and brutality even from a distance.

"What are your orders, sir?" the Major asked nervously.

"Launch the fighters, get the tanks ready," General Kenji Toru ordered.

"Yes, sir," the Major said. "Should we alert the Americans as well?"

"Tell everyone," General Toru stated firmly. "I like this less then when that giant monster attacked Tokyo-3."

"Yes, sir. The _William Jefferson Clinton_'s taskforce should be in range in ten minutes. _Prince of Wales_ about 20 after that," Hakate said after a moment.

Shortly the screams of the dieing filled the airwaves. From what General Toru could tell metal sea monsters destroyed the taskforces along with something with a punch that killed everything.

Major Hakate was bone-white was he listened. "This is... very bad."

"I wonder if that egomaniac Ikari wants to handle this one as well," General Toru commented with grim humor.

"I hope the Americans and the British tear his hide off," one of the other JSSDF officers muttered.

It was a sentiment that everyone shared.

V-V-V

"This planet is patheticm," Gigant Bomb grumbled. Any of the forces they came across were even less amusing to destroy then Empties.

"Well at least crushing the Autobots should be fun," Smokesniper commented.

"More fun then those squishy things," Skywarp said with a laugh.

"Yeah…more fun," Thundercracker said softer then hoped as doubt assaulted his spark. He buried those fears because if he didn't he'd be the one they'd need to bury.

"Look more humans," Skywarp pointed. "I'm going to go blow up them up."

"Hey don't hog them all!" Smokesniper complained.

"Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed. "Attack! Crush the Autobots!"

The Decepticons surged ahead. Ramjet and a few others took a moment or two to blow up some tanks or planes. Suddenly Ramjet was blasted and crashed to the ground. Out of seeming nowhere the Autobots appear. Hound's holograms came through once again.

"Autobots," Prowl ordered. "Attack!"

Sunstreaker smirked and opened fire on the Decepticons. Lugnut was hit dead on and crashed into the earth. As he attempted to get up Spyglass collided with him. Suddenly there is a loud explosion as Lugnut's "Attack that Kills Everything" got set off.

"That all you got?" Sunstreaker yelled defiantly at the cons.

The ground started to shake and a massive burst of sonic energy slammed the vain Autobot into the ruins of a skyscraper. However Frenzy didn't get time to gloat as he was blasted by five different Autobots. Frenzy's life's fuel flowed freely and he had several holes through his chest.

"Death comes to Autobots!" Dirge bellowed as he strafed the Autobots. He felt a burning in the back after that.

"Doesn't know when to shut up either," Swoop quipped as he drove his sword through Dirge's head. The morose Decepticon last thoughts were of his cerebral cortex melting.

"Die Autobot!" Acid Storm yelled as he fired on Swoop. However Swoop used Dirge's body as a shield. Swoop then hit Acid Storm with Dirge's body and the eye burning florescent green Seeker slammed into the ground.

"These glitchheads are mightiest jet force in the galaxy?" Swoop commented. "Megs had to be joking."

"Now isn't the time to make comments about the quality of the Decepticon forces," Tracks called out as he flew by blasting Seekers. Precise sniper fire stopped Kickback from trying to eat Track's face.

"See Cliffjumper," Bluestreak gabbed as he blew Seeker after Seeker out of the sky "I know what I'm doing. If I didn't why I would I be doing it?"

'I'd pay a lot of cubes if he'd shut up for a while,' Cliffjumper thought to himself. 'Or Rung to get him to just stop talking so much.'

Elsewhere on that battlefield Fasttrack, Bumper and Drift were fighting off the Decepticons. Drift cut the head off Windshear with his sword like it was a hot knife through butter.

He then cut an Insecticon clone in half and kicked it into Thrust's path. The Seeker barely avoided being knocked out of the sky.

"You make this look easy Drift," Bumper said with admiration.

Drift was about to reply before his lifeless and headless body slumped over. Fasttrack looked shocked, and suddenly dropped dead full of holes as well. Bumper quickly transformed and drove off.

"It's a pity you Autobots die so easy," Megatron sneered. "Or I might have a sense of satisifaction."

It was then Megatron saw Optimus Prime and his group driving up over the horizon. A cruel smile adorned his face.

"We'll see who survives this day Prime," Megatron mused out loud.

V-V-V

Tokyo-3 was burning. Whatever the 3rd Angel didn't destroy was done in by the Decepticons. The buildings were burned out husks as were any tanks that still were in pieces large enough to be seen. It was worse then Shinji could imagine and that scared him out of his wits. Sideswipe had the top up, and it looked like they were driving a circle of hell.

In the fire and smoke of war with dead bodies: human and Transformer, tanks burning this gleaming almost demonic figure coming out of the smoke. He had a massive cannon attached to his arm. His feral smile and the tribal tattoos on his face were almost as scary as that cannon.

Optimus Prime stopped and transformed to face him.

"So good of you to join us Optimus," Megatron said with amusement. "After all I need your head for a conversation piece!"

"Not now, not ever Megatron," Optimus Prime retorted as he blasted Megatron.

The rest of the Autobots rolled for it. They didn't want to get in the middle of a fight of leaders.

Optimus Prime slashed Megatron with his energy axe. Megatron looked amused as the wound on his chest sparked. He looked less amused when Optimus Prime's foot hit his face and knocked him into a pile of rubble.

The Decepticon Supreme Commander rose up for the ground. Scrap metal fell off his body as he ran at Optimus.

Optimus tried to get out of the way but was unable to dodge Megatron's hand which gripped around his neck. Optimus was slammed into the ground by the Slag Maker. It appeared he wished to crush Prime with his bare hands.

"As slow to learn as ever, Optimus," hissed Megatron in glee as he tightened his grip.

Suddenly Megatron was cut crotch to head with Optimus's energy axe. The wound was shallow but it got him off Prime.

"Is that the sort of satisfaction you wanted Megatron?" Optimus asked as he got to his feet.

"The only satisfaction I will ever have is seeing that light of defiance sputter and fade from your DYING OPTICS!" The Decepticon leader roared as he punched Optimus in the chest, knocking him back as he charged his fusion cannon for a point-blank shot.

A lightning quick blast from his laser rifle at Megatron's arm was the only thing that kept Optimus Prime having his chest blown to bits. Even so the blast blew through his side like it wasn't even there. The wound sparked and bleed energon.

Megatron siezed upon the advantage like the experienced warrior he was, ignoring the pain of the laser shot to his arm and charging Optimus with a shoulder, checking the Autobot leader hard and knocking him off-balance.

Optimus Prime quickly transformed and drove away from Megatron.

"You won't escape that easily, Prime!" Megatron bellowed, firing several fusion cannon blasts after the semi-truck.

Suddenly Optimus's trailer detached from him and transformed. Even the drone Roller was armed and let loose a horrific barrage on the Slag Maker.

Megatron cursed loudly as he turned to his left and ran, strafing the drone. Numerous blasts struck him on the shoulder and leg, slowing him, but his thick armor saved him from destruction as he returned the favor to Roller with a full-powered fusion blast.

The drone proved to be harder to kill then Megatron wanted as it managed to go in reverse at high speeds away from the blast. It seemed every part of Optimus Prime won't give up and die easily.

It was fitting, Megatron supposed, that even the meanest part of the Autobot leader would not give in quickly. He fired a barrage of weaker but faster fusion blasts, herding Roller to the right while dodging his fire as best he could. An energy blast whistled over his head, so close the electromagnetic containment bubble of the shot made his optics flicker, but he persevered. Roller moved to just the right spot, and Megatron leaped into the air, firing his fusion cannon at the highest setting he could charge it at with so little time, the blast hitting the drone right in the chest.

It was not enough to destroy the drone, but it knocked Roller back. Megatron hit the ground hard and rolled forward, firing again on the drone.

While Megatron's attention was on Roller Optimus Prime gunned it. At the last second before colliding with Megatron he transformed and flew at Megatron fist first.

"AUGH!" Megatron cried, taking the hit to the face and losing his balance, smashing into the ground hard.

Prime blasted Megatron with a rapid fire burst of laser fire from his rifle. Megatron held up his arms, blocking the shots from getting to his chest or head but taking severe damage to both. He was still able to get a single shot in on Optimus with the fusion cannon.

The blast hit Optimus's already wounded side. It was then Optimus Prime noticed a human child pinned under debris.

"YAAHHH!" Megatron bellowed, slamming a hard kick into Optimus's shin.

Optimus was knocked off his feet. It was then Megatron noticed the flesh creature. It looked so…pitiful. So weak. So completely and utterly useless.

Megatron pointed his fusion cannon at the useless fleshling. Optimus covered it with his body as Megatron fired three rapid fusion blasts.

"You always defend the weak Prime. That's why you lose!" Megatron gloated. "It's over Prime!"

Suddenly Optimus Prime moved as Megatron stood over him.

"Never!" Optimus Prime bellowed as his hammer punch hit Megatron in the chest and sent the Decepticon leader flying back.

"Fine Prime," Megatron snarled as he flew off "Have the fleshling pet."

A view screen popped up on Optimus Prime's arm and on it was Ratchet.

"Ratchet," Optimus Prime gasped. "I need you here now!"

"On my way Prime." Ratchet said in a no nonsense tone and ended the signal.

V-V-V

Shinji felt exposed with Sideswipe holding off Gigantbomb. The missile launcher on that Decepticon was huge. What the payload of that thing did to an armored division was mind boggling and frightening.

Misato was shielding him with her body, as fire danced in her eyes. Her sole means of transportation, her Renault Alpine, had been smashed to bits by a fallen building earlier, and now she only had her pistol with which to defend Shinji and herself.

With them was Bumblebee. He looked at Misato's gun and shook his head. He had a feeling human salvatory fluid would be as effective as that on armor grade alloys as the projectiles that gun fired.

"Unless Cliffjumper uses his glass gun, that thing won't do slag," Bumblebee bluntly stated.

"Well, excuse me for not being a 20-foot tall robot of destruction!" she snarled back. "Shinji, we have to get to NERV!"

Shinji suddenly shoved Misato down as a bright orange Seeker strafed their position. Futily, Misato shot at it with her gun. If the bullets even hit Sunstorm he didn't seem to notice.

"And the sad thing is I feel safer out here then at NERV," Shinji commented "At least here I know who is going to attack me."

Bumblebee shot Misato and Shinji a confused look at that statement. How bad did NERV have to be for a firefight to be more assuring?

Misato groaned. "We've got to move." she said.

Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode and the doors opened.

"Hop in!" Bumblebee yelled.

Misato pulled Shinji in with her. "Go!"

Bumblebee wasn't a speed demon like Windcharger or Blurr but his engine roared as he got moving. He nimbly avoided debris, and Decepticon fire to get into the Ark. All the time, Misato held Shinji tight, shielding him with her body.

"We're here," Bumblebee said feeling a bit safe.

Misato looked up, her pistol in hand, a soldier to the last. Shinji looked in awe as he took in every detail of the Ark. He also noticed it was very orange as well as extremely massive. It looked like it was built like a fortress.

And to Shinji it was all completely awesome.

"Be careful, Shinji," she said softly.

Shinji gasped and felt his stomach clench and lurch as he sees on a monitor six of the Decepticons merging into one massive robot. A massive Eva sized robot. And it shoved a building over like it was cardboard onto a group of Autobots.

Misato gaped as well. "What in _Kami-sama's_ name?"

"Devastator," Bumblebee said in a harsh whisper filled with respect and fear.

Misato looked around nervously as she held Shinji's hand.

V-V-V

Metal bent as Grimlock bit into Wingstun. Grimlock really liked his altmode at that moment. With his jaws in Wingstun's body he started pulling and tore one of his wings off. The whole thing was appealing in a visceral and violent way his old tank form lacked.

He then tossed the Seeker aside. Fuel dripped from his jaws and Grimlock felt good. A good battle always got the energy flowing in him. Then the ground started to shake. A massive energy blast knocked Grimlock off his feet.

Standing over the Dinobot Commander was Devastator. Grimlock opened his mouth and burst of energy blasted the Decepticon gestalt. However Devastator looked more annoyed then hurt.

Rubble around them burst as Trailbreaker and the Dinobots walked out of ruins. Snarl looked even more pissed off then usual. The combative and violent stegosaurus fired a blast of solar energy from his spines at the Decepticon gestalt. The blast only annoyed Devastator.

Devastator snarled as he fired off an energy blast from his optics. Trailbreaker's force field held against the onslaught.

While the Decepticon gestalt was busy with Trailbreaker, Swoop flew in and stabbed Devastator in the shoulder with his thermal sword.

"Foolish gnat!" Devastator bellowed.

Sludge slammed his foot to the ground. The pavement under Devastator started to shake and crumble. The combiner stumbled as he was unable to find solid ground. There was a loud crash as Devastator fell to the ground. It was then that Slag let off a massive burst of flame from his mouth. Metal started to flow like water. Devastator picked up Slag and threw him as far as he could.

"Hit his chest," Grimlock ordered. The Dinobots and Trailbreaker opened fire on the damaged chest of the Decepticon combiner.

Devastator hammered on Trailbreaker's forcefield. Yet it held against the titanic might of Devastator. Suddenly molten lead hit Devastator in the back. The Decepticon gestalt growled in frustration and pain as some of the molten lead entered the wound Swoop gave him.

"You might be big," Ironhide yelled. "But you're not as tough as you think you are."

Devastator responded to that by backhanding Ironhide and sending him flying through the air and he crashed into the remains of a drug store.

Slag had lumbered back to the fight and unleashed his burning breath on Devastator's back. The massive Decepticon tried to free himself as metal started to melt. With his attention elsewhere Swoop slashed Devastator's head with his thermal sword.

Devastator fired off another optic blast and hit Swoop. Swoop fell to the ground looking lifeless. Grimlock's already angry expression got even more frightening seeing a member of his team go down.

Grimlock, Sludge, and Snarl transformed to robot mode and blasted Devastator in his weakened chest with full power to their primary weapons. Having had enough Devastator demerged and the Constructicons flew off.

V-V-V

Kouzou Kozo walked down onto the hanger floor. Gendo had gone to his office to plan their next move. And brood and sulk at the same time the Subcommander was sure. His former student was a creature of habit.

'At least he didn't try to assault MAGI,' Kozo thought. Even with the revelations, they still needed that super computer to run the city.

It was then an ambulance came barreling into the Eva bay. One without a driver.

"What on Earth?" he asked.

"I have an injured girl," the ambulance called out. "I have her stabilized but I don't have the right equipment to help her any further. And I don't want to kill her by accident."

The ambulance doors popped open and a bandaged girl with some gleaming metal bits came out on a stretcher. She was sedated and her left leg looked like the bone had been fractured by a very large piece of debris.

Kozo jogged over and took a look at her. "Mari Suzuhara." he identified her. "Get her to the Infirmary. Now!"

Several of the Eva bay crew took the stretcher. Kozo hoped the girl would be alright. Though he mused that Gendo would be happy. Or whatever came closest to happiness in him.

"I got to get back to the fight," Ratchet said as his doors closed, and the sound of burning rubber filled the bay as Ratchet drove off.

"Dear me, what a mess." Kozo stated.

V-V-V

Shinji and Misato watched as the Decepticons retreated. Their strike to destroy the Autobots and the Ark had been stopped. Shinji wondered if fighting the 3rd Angel with the Evangelion would have caused less property damage.

It was a surprise to see Optimus as battle damaged as he was. His whole side looked like it had been skillfully patched up with scrap metal.

"I'm going to need to remove your battlefield repairs," Ratchet said a soothing tone.

"No," Optimus said forcefully. "I can wait. Fix up the others first."

Ratchet was clearly unhappy but nodded his head. It wasn't the first time he got that from Optimus Prime and he doubted it'd be the last.

"I'm glad that's all over," Shinji said still in shock over the damage that had been done.

"It isn't over," Prowl stated in a cold and logic tone. "This was frankly was only the beginning."

"The beginning?" Shinji gasped.

"Yes your world has become a battlefield for our war," Optimus Prime said sounding like a heavy weight was on his metal shoulders. "For that I am eternally regretful."


	2. Chapter 2

A meeting was taking place deep within war torn Iacon. While Ultra Magnus was the leader since Optimus Prime was gone he wanted the advice of trusted Autobot generals and commanders left on Cybertron. Ultra Magnus, Elita One, Thunderclash, and Starsaber were all there to discuss how to find Optimus Prime and the Ark.

"We need to get Optimus Prime back." Ultra Magnus said. The interm Autobot leader wasn't sure if he could handle Deathsaurus or Skyquake and their plans. With Megatron gone they and several other Decepticons would try to become Decepticon Leader.

The other Autobot Leaders understood that Ultra Magnus had an issue with his confidence. It was that he lacked self confidence. He'd find he was a great leader and soldier if he didn't keep thinking he had to more then he was.

Though it didn't make Ultra Magnus's black moods and self pity any easier to put up when they reared their ugly head. They were thankful it that Grimlock was missing on the Ark.

Dealing with a depressed Ultra Magnus and Grimlock being his usual would be an even bigger nightmare then the one they had. And likely with Grimlock taking control of the Autobot army. And none of them wanted to see how many astroseconds it took power to go to Grimlock's head.

"The Ark and Nemesis's disappearance make it problematic to find them." Starsaber said "That was an unstable Transwarp opening they entered."

"Perceptor had a huge report on it." Elita-One said "It melted down to that he has no idea where they are."

"I told you all to ask Jetfire to write it." Thunderclash said "You can at least understand his reports."

"Anyone but Brainstorm and Perceptor." Starsaber said.

"At least we don't have to worry about Huffer or Gears giving a report." Elita-One said "Optimus showed some of those rants."

"That had to be interesting." Thunderclash said "And on a more morbid note how are we sure they're not all dead?"

"With the Matrix Flame still burning we know they are still out of there." Starsaber said "As small of a comfort as that is."

Out of the myrid of ways to give life the Matrix Flame was the one closest linked to the Matrix in the chest of a Prime.

"We need Prime back." Ultra Magnus said "We have to find him."

"Look Ultra Magnus." Thunderclash said "We know. You don't need to repeat yourself about it."

Elita One put her hand on Ultra Magnus's shoulder. The femme then looked Ultra Magnus in the optic.

"And I want Optimus found even more then you do." Elita One said "However we have to worry about the Decepticons. Without Megatron to keep them in line every single commander other then Strika and Shockwave will try to do something that'll show they should be leader of the Decepticons."

"Be it an internal power play or victories over us." Thunderclash said "Or both."

Ultra Magnus thought for a moment and realized they were right. He was no Optimus Prime but he had to be the best he could be. He had to use the Decepticon's weaknesses against them.

Braver ran into the conference room. The Autobot scientist looked excited. Given Braver was saner then Wheeljack and beta tested on the small scale before showing his inventions, the Autobot leaders were sure that it won't blow up in their faces.

"I've found a way to track where the Transwarp opening went." Braver exclaimed.

"That's great news." Ultra Magnus said.

"It took Jetfire, Mainframe, Windmill and I to figure it out." Braver said "And they're 300 light years away from us."

"Good." Thunderclash said "I was afraid they ended up in another galaxy or even another reality."

"The strange part is it's a system Jetfire was going to explore before the war broke out." Braver said "That's what made it so easy for us to figure out where they are."

Ultra Magnus sat more straight in his chair and looked like the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders. He turned to Starsaber.

"Starsaber." Ultra Magnus ordered "I need you to find Optimus."

"I'll need Galaxy Shuttle for this." Starsaber said "If Megatron survived he has two combining teams."

"Understood." Ultra Magnus said "Assemble who you think you'll need for the mission."

"I got just the bots in mind for that." Starsaber said. He looked at Braver and he nodded and knew who most of those Autobots would be.

"Thunderclash I need you and Elita-One to raid several Decepticon supply depots and make it look like rival Con groups are doing it." Ultra Magnus commanded.

"Devious." Thunderclash said "Sounds like it should work though."

"The Decepticons won't be expecting that." Elita One said "Especially with Grimlock lost."

"He might be an arrogant, unAutobotlike brute with all the finesse of a detrailed tank but when his plans work, they work extremely well." Ultra Magnus said.

"We just have to be careful for what Ratbat will do." Thunderclash said "Slagger was a politician before the war."

"So was Starscream." Starsaber said "I wonder what the pit he's up to stranded on a planet with Megatron and Optimus."

-

The mood in the repair bay of the Nemesis was tense as always after a battle. No one even bet on Starscream saying that if he was in command the battle would have gone better. Some placed bets that sooner or later Mindwipe would be the only one to have contact with Starscream.

"Some plan Megatron." Starscream snapped "Have us just go and assault the Autobots like a headless Guardian class robot? And I didn't notice you doing anything but fighting Prime again."

With a swift motion Megatron knocked Starscream to the ground. His optics cut through Starscream like his fusion cannon would.

"I didn't notice you giving any leadership." Megatron growled "As for Prime…if he falls so do the rest of the Autobots. They can't function without a leader."

"Oh that's brilliant." Starscream said his voice dripping with sarcasm "And of course not have Devastator do it."

"Some things require a more personal touch Starscream." Megatron snarled.

Starscream wisely kept his mouth shut how many Vorns that hadn't work against Optimus Prime. He simply left the repair bay and went to study the local life forms and how they think.

He doubted they would be work much or have any good ideas but it at least was something to do. All the other Decepticons in the repair wondered how Starscream kept from being shot dead.

"You think there are any humans like Starscream?" Sunstorm asked Long Haul.

"I hope not." Long Haul said "One Starscream is more then enough. I mean it's bad enough there's bots like Leozack around."

"And he thinks Deathsaurus doesn't know that?" Smokesniper said "Every bot in the Decepticon army knows he intends on betraying him and taking his place."

-

Gendo didn't like how things had changed. Oh he was right it was a time of trials for humanity but everything else was off. His scenario required the Third Child to pilot Eva-01 against Sachiel and awaken Yui. It was a plan he doubted there would have any major problems.

That alien machines would wage their civil war on Earth was something he couldn't have believed a possibility. Yet he had seen them with his own eyes and the Dead Sea Scrolls made no mention of them.

The whole thing was giving a headache on how to get things to go his way. So far he had no idea what this was all about. He wanted to kick himself for how complacent he had become. He had become used to knowing who all the players in his scenario were.

Gendo wondered who or what made the Transformers and for what purpose. Military and consumer lines that now running a muck across the galaxy perhaps? Learning their origins was a must now. Knowledge was power, and he needed all the power he could get over the Transformers. Definitely needed to find out all he could about the Transformers. They were going to be a bigger annoyance to his Scenario.

And even worse for his plans Tokyo-3 had every major and minor power trying to get their hands on the Transformer corpses. He himself had of course managed to acquire a few and hide them where MAGI won't know.

Another gulling fact that Naoko's personality had survived and was in love with one of those machines. One of his major resources now with the enemy. And Gendo knew that the Autobots and Decepticons would have agendas that clashed with his. And the Autobots were in his backyard and fortifying themselves.

"And MAGI too necessary to run this city and facility." Gendo thought "And I believed she was one of the few things I could always depend on."

Of course Gendo was avoiding the fact that MAGI though every human was too stupid to be worth talking to directly. He never imagined that was the truth or even possible.

At least without his being seen as worthy for MAGI to talk to.

-

"The scenario is doomed!" SEELE 4 said "Those giant robots are destroying everything!"

"Quiet." Keele bellowed.

Suddenly a silver head appeared on the SEELE monoliths. They all knew who it was.

"Pathetic." Megatron sneered "You're the rulers of this planet and what I do see? A group of squabbling children. You're not worth expending the energy to hunt down and kill."

The Star Chamber bristled at being dismissed like that.

"Now see here." Keele started.

"Slag off fleshling." Megatron snapped "I don't care if you are immortal or not. I don't care if you run this miserable mudball. You just stay out of Cybertronian affairs and you might live to see another day."

With that Megatron cut the transmission. There was a deafening silence in the room for several minutes afterward.

"We can not let some group of tinker toys get in the way." Keele snarled "We will find a way to rid ourselves of these Transformers."

Unseen in the corner Buzzsaw's optics glowed and the condor shaped Decepticon seemed to smirk. He might not have much to work with, but he was already planning the masterpieces he could make using the bodies of SEELE.

And he could give his brother Laserbeak a datatrax of his masterpieces. He always seemed to enjoy viewing them.

-

"Interesting." Ratchet said as he scanned the LCD. The stuff was blood of some creature or creatures. He wondered where or how NERV could have vats of fresh blood. The Autobot medic ran some scans over what effects the blood would have on the human body even hyper oxygenated.

He didn't foresee any problems, but wondered who thought using this unknown blood in the Evas was a good idea. Or what they were doing with the animals they killed to get this much blood.

Or why they thought such a substance was a good choice in the first place. For an untrained pilot they would think they were being drowned. Ratchet didn't even want to think how that blood would taste to Shinji or anyone else for that matter.

His scanning of the food used in the NERV commissary showed it wasn't used to feed them. Which left the question of where were getting it to be this fresh. And what they were doing with the bodies of the animals they got it from.

"You have any idea what this stuff is?" Ratchet asked Wheeljack.

"I couldn't make heads or tails of that stuff." Wheeljack admitted "I thought it was some kind of coolant but materials in it made no sense for that."

"That would be because it's organic animal blood." Ratchet said.

Wheeljack ran some quick calculations of how many animals would need to be killed for this much blood using various sizes of common human animals. And on a daily if not hourly basis given how fresh the LCD was.

"The logistics of that." Wheeljack said "Would be inefficient at best."

"And we'd have to ask MAGI but I have a feeling this isn't from slaughterhouses." Ratchet said "We need Steeljaw to find where they're getting this stuff."

"And I need to design a new suit for Shinji to use." Wheeljack said "One with an internal air supply."

"This place makes less and less sense the more I think about it." Ratchet commented.

"And I doubt we even want to know what Prowl thinks of NERV." Wheeljack said. The Autobot Tactician liked things logical and orderly. NERV was run anything but logically and orderly.

One of the Section 2 agents turned to a techican and asked "You understand what they said?"

"No idea and how would I know an alien language anyway?"

-

Starscream found the programs humans watched interesting. He saw several zombie films and found the idea of reanimating dead human bodies interesting. Their bodies could be made to work with enough energy.

His watching of the movies drew the interest of several Decepticons.

"Though only the recently dead will work for it." Starscream mused.

"You really going do that?" Skywarp said. He really didn't see the point of using decaying organics. Plus removing them from their graves would difficult given they were so small.

"It would make the perfect terror weapon against the humans." Starscream said.

"It would have to be before the nerves degraded beyond being able to receive signals." Hook said "Rigor Mortus is also going to be a problem."

"Humans have a fear of the dead rising." Starscream said "And while they are panicking, it would give the Autobots more they have to do."

"That'd be funny to see." Frenzy said gleefully.

"I hope I won't have to inside me to transport them." Skywarp said.

"Your jet mode isn't big enough to haul many of them." Starscream said "Even if we crammed them into your cockpit."

"Doubt Astrotrain will like having to haul them around." Skywarp said "But better him then me."

"Looks like we'll need to make a high pressure hose." Hook commented "I am not going to clean Astrotrain's insides any other way."

-

Shinji found himself in some sort of limbo. He was trying to sort out exactly what had happened to him. NERV barracks weren't the most comfortable place to spend a night but there weren't any hotels he could stay at after the Autobots and Decepticons fought a few days ago.

Which was why he was in a lounge flipping through channels.

"...Sources say these machines are UN military machines gone rogue..."

"What do you mean it looks like a sci fi movie got crazy? I wish I could get special effects that good if that was the case."

"Aliens come to Earth and start beating the shit out of each other in ways that would make Micheal Bay drool and take down notes."

"What we clearly have is alien life. We are not alone in the cosmos."

"We're all going to die!"

"We have a giant monster that was hit by a starship! And giant robots blowing each other up in Tokyo-3! What the hell is going on?!"

"We have movie sign!"

"The end of the world is at hand or have things just gone to sci fi fanboy's fantasty? Well at least without the hot alien chicks? Welcome to the Cobert Report."

"KHAAAANNNNN!"

"At least this makes for interesting television." Shinji mused out loud before turning off the TV.

At the moment the Autobots were being quiet and fixing up their busted up starship. Only place they walked around in their robot modes was in the Geo Front. Shinji wondered if he could be there when they went public. It was likely to be a complete and utter media circuis.

His father had been…quiet and brooding somewhere. Of course Shinji knew he was a control freak. And giant robots from another planet threw that control out the window and then ran it over a few times.

Shinji walked out of the building and into the very green and lush Geo Front. He needed some fresh air.

"Hey Shinji." Shinji hear. He looked around, and then looked up at the looming shadow.

"Sideswipe right?" Shinji asked.

The Autobot warrior nodded and said "Yeah that's me."

Sideswipe sat close to Shinji and asked "So Shinji what is there to do for fun in this town?"

"I won't know." Shinji said "I haven't been able to get out much. What do you for fun?"

Shinji was expecting something involving math that would give Steven Hawking a headache or some sort of activity he'd never heard of.

"I like to pull pranks." Sideswipe said proudly.

That was definitely something he didn't expect.

"Really?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah. One time I covered Sunstreaker in motor oil." Sideswipe said "He didn't stop complaining for a quartex."

Shinji laughed at the mental image of that.

"Pulling pranks is fun." Sideswipe said "There are some human ideas for them I think would work great."

"Really?" Shinji asked.

Sideswipe nodded and commented "Of course I'm sure there are some improvements I could make to human ones."

"Tell me more." Shinji said interested in what could be done.

"The possibilities are endless." Sideswipe said "Especially if we get Wheeljack to help."

"Can we use them on my father?" Shinji asked.

"That guy really needs pranked." Sideswipe commented.

"You have no idea. The commander of NERV is a jerk." Shinji said.

"I think Shockwave is nicer then him." Sideswipe said "For Primus sake I've seen Grimlock treat his subordinates with more respect then he did."

"And all he sent me was a one word letter." Shinji said.

"We need to glue a multi color afro to his head." Sideswipe said.

Shinji laughed until it hurt thinking about Gendo with one of those on his head.

"I'd go with nanobots or something like that, but Wheeljack just invented something that makes crazy glue look pathetic in terms of strength." Sideswipe said.

Shinji smiled evilly and said "We have to do that."

Sideswipe laughed and knew he had an apprentice. And he was going to enjoy teaching him the ins and outs of pranking. What he didn't know was he was the first friend Shinji ever had.

Misato stayed as quiet as she could and watched the pair.

"Hound couldn't stop laughing for Orns after Jazz and I pranked Huffer." Sideswipe said.

"You can say hello." Misato heard behind her. She turned and saw an Autobot with a formula one racer alt mode. She couldn't believe something that big and made of metal could be silent enough to sneak up on her.

"Who are you?" Misato asked after calming down.

"Mirage." Mirage said.

"Exactly how many of you are there roaming the Geo Front...and how did you get in anyway?" Misato asked.

"Four." Mirage said "Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sideswipe and of course me. And Wheeljack's girlfriend is allowing us access."

Misato still wasn't sure what to think about MAGI being self aware. Granted it wasn't as shocking after the Transformers had shown up, but it was a human created computer and not an alien machine.

Though it was disheartening that MAGI managed to get a decent boyfriend. Wheeljack had been spending time working on Eva-01 and Misato could see he was a kindhearted absent minded scientist.

"Yeah she really likes having us around."Sideswipe said.

"Hey can I move in with you guys?" Shinji asked "The barracks aren't much to speak of and really don't want to stay here."

"Well there is this one kid your age with glasses that is camped out around the Ark." Mirage said "We're debating letting him stay if he's going to spend so much time watching us."

"And the fact that Wheeljack might find trying to install the various things Shinji needs on the Ark." Sideswipe said "It won't be a good idea. Given I don't think we want to see an exploding toilet. Or listen to Huffer whine about setting up new wiring and plumbing."

"He could sign a petition to live with the commander." Misato said. The fact Sideswipe, Mirage and Shinji frowned at that suggestion didn't fill her with confidence.

"The Commander washed his hands of the kid for over a decivorn." Sideswipe commented "And even if he did want Shinji around he had several days to get that done."

"He's definitely not ever going to win a father of the year award." Mirage intoned.

Shinji gave her a hurt look. What happened a few days ago made it clear the only reason he was still around was because the Commander had 'a use for him'. It also hurt he'd never hear his father say how proud he was or anything positive.

Misato's heart went out for Shinji. She made a decision right there and pulled out her cell phone.

"Rits I'm taking in Shinji." Misato said.

"That's...surprising." Sideswipe said.

"Verbose statement there Sideswipe." Mirage commented.

"Leave the humor to the others ok?" Sideswipe said.

"You're no Armorhide yourself." Mirage said.

Sideswipe dramatically held his hands over his chest.

"Owe right in the lasercore." Sideswipe said.

"You get the weirdest people to be your friends Shinji." Misato said.

Shinji looked completely surprised. He'd never even tried to get friends before this. Then again he never had aliens try befriending him before.

It left Shinji with a warm feeling. Maybe coming to Tokyo-3 wasn't so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Shinji felt his stomach drop as a stench filled his nose as he got closer and closer to the place he was going to be staying. And it wasn't garbage day either.

Then Misato opened the door and Shinji cringed.

Shinji wondered how any one human being could live with trash everywhere, empty beer cans, possibly fleas and insects in that mess. Now a horde of horrific smells assaulted Shinji's nose as he walked into the apartment.

"It's not that bad..." Misato said weakly.

'I could hide my father's body in there and I doubt anyone would find it or notice another funky smell.' Shinji thought. He had several daydreams of killing his father and getting away with it.

Misato looked at Shinji as he started rubbing his chin and had a far away look on his face. Something about it was unsettling.

"What?" Misato asked.

"Sorry just daydreaming." Shinji said. He then looked down to make sure the flooring wasn't just crushed down potato chip bits. Thankfully they weren't and the floor didn't look like it was horribly stained either.

"And how do you put up with the smell?" Shinji asked.

"Oh I'm used to it." Misato said. Shinji shot her a look that he really didn't want to learn how to live with the stench.

"Break out the cleaning supplies." Shinji said "And several really big trash bags."

Shinji wondered if they made industrial strength air fresheners and got to work. After clearing a way to the fridge he opened that whatever was inside won't try to eat him. He opened the door and found it full of beer, instant food, and snacks.

The pantry was full to the brim with instant ramen. Shinji was sure that Misato's diet would kill her if the Angels didn't.

Shinji then noticed a second refrigerator and wondered what could be in there. He just hoped it wasn't for even more booze.

A penguin walked out with a towel and went into the bathroom. Shinji looked at Misato with a puzzled expression on his face.

"That's my pet penguin Penpen." Misato said.

"I'm just glad I wasn't taking a bath." Shinji said.

"That would have been embarrassing." Misato admitted.

"And why do I have this feeling you'd let it happen." Shinji asked.

Misato tried to look innocent, however Shinji wondered if she would for a joke. A joke that he admitted probably would be funny if he wasn't going to be the one caught up in it.

Shinji felt he should tell Sideswipe about that sort of prank, and to remember it in case he got room mates that needed knocked down a few notices. He however hoped he won't need it.

-

"Ok men." Starsaber said "We are the ones to find Optimus Prime and the Ark. We have a general location of star system they're in. However we're not sure what planet in it they're on. And of course we got Megatron and the crew of the Nemesis in system as well."

Starsaber then looked over the team he had assembled. His friends Blacker, Braver, and Laster. They were able to merge into Road Caesar. He'd been through a lot of campaigns with them at his side. He trusted them with his life, as did they with theirs.

Next were the Aerialbots. Starsaber knew that Superion would be able to keep the Seacons or Constucticons at bay. Starsaber also hoped he could help Silverbolt get better as a commander. The Aerialbot leader was young and inexperienced but seemed to have it in him to become a decent Autobot commander.

If Slingshot didn't get Silverbolt and the others killed first. Starsaber prayed to Primus that Slingshot would avoid getting into a fight with Blacker. Putting someone back together again from parts was a pain in the aft.

Next was their intelligence officer Blurr. The blue Autobot was fast. Possibly the fastest thing on four wheels. And the only thing as fast as his wheels was his mouth. Even Bluestreak couldn't keep up when Blurr was talking full speed. Starsaber wondered if Bluestreak and Blurr ever did work together on at any point.

High Beam looked to be deep in thought to Starsaber. In actuality the metallic green tracker was annoyed that he'd been called off in his search for the Combaticons. He almost had them. He was able to find Swindle and the rest were never very far from him. Still it was his duty to help Starsaber and the others find the Ark, so that is what he'd do.

Cloudburst looked clam and collected to Starsaber, but in truth the communications officer was nervious and felt a bit shy being around several infamous Autobots. The red and grey Autobot looked up to Star Saber. The jet moded Autobot commanding officer had battled Deathsaurus many times and even stopped Deathsaurus's space fortress from being used. That massive base was the size of a large moon and had enough fire power to make even Grimlock jump with joy. If the Decepticons got to use that thing, they could have conquered the galaxy.

'Still all I have to do is establish contact with Cybertron from that star system.' Cloudburst thought 'Kind of stuff I did before the war more or less.'

And Cloudburst wondered why he was needed when Blaster was on the Ark. He was the foremost communications officer in the Autobot army.

Starsaber lead the team to the launching pad in Iacon. On it was a massive transformer named Galaxy Shuttle. He was the biggest Autobot on Cybertron. He towered over even the Guardian class robots. If Optimus Prime and his forces were near defeat, Galaxy Shuttle alone would even the odds.

Even Devastator didn't do well when a storm of meteors was dropped on him.

"Starscream has to be making a mess of things in the Con camp." Blacker said. The red and black Autobot was sure Starscream would cause a rebellion if he bored and needed something to pass the time.

"Yes that will make things unstable." Blurr said super fast "However it can be used to our advantage."

"How many astroseconds did that take him to say?" Laster asked Braver.

"Please the Cons are flying scrap." Slingshot said "Starscream is all talk."

"Spoken like someone who hasn't fought him or read about his tactics." Skydive said.

"Shove it out your afterburners." Slingshot snapped.

"Enough." Starsaber said "Slingshot Starscream might be a backstabbing schemer, but he's the Decepticon Air Commander because he's very good at it."

"I can still take him." Slingshot said defiantly.

Starsaber gave Silverbolt a sympathetic look. Blacker stared Slingshot in the optics and said "You'll get your chance but you're writing checks your tailpipe can't cash."

"Plus we'll fight him together." Silverbolt said.

"Just don't give a teamwork speech." Slingshot said "For Cybertron's sake even Fireflight can recite them from memory."

"Enough talk then." Starsaber said "It's time for us to go."

After the group of Autobots entered Galaxy Shuttle, Cloudburst looked out a window at Iacon and wondered when he'd see it again.

-

"Hey Shinji." Sideswipe said "We have some body guards for you."

"Bodyguards for me?" Shinji said surprised.

"Yeah given we don't trust your father at all and won't trust his Section 2 goons to lead ant droids to a picnic." Sideswipe said.

"Thanks." Shinji said "But I'm not sure I want to be a pilot."

"Hey I understand." Sideswipe said "But we need someone we can trust piloting the Eva. Well at least one of them. The other one tried to kill you father."

"Even the giant robots hate my dad?" Shinji said shocked.

"Yeah MAGI likes to tell that story for some reason." Sideswipe said.

"But I'm no one special." Shinji said.

"Shinji just because your father is glitch head who didn't pay any attention to you doesn't make you a loser." Sideswipe said "Plus it's a giant robots. I've heard that human women dig giant robots."

Shinji chuckled and said "You really think that'd be the best pick up line?"

"Well it beats my pick up line for the Femmes of power of my engine." Sideswipe said.

Shinji looked at him oddly and asked "Has that ever worked? And why are there female Transformers?"

"Not really and no one has any idea." Sideswipe said.

"But why would they have me pilot the Eva after I turned down the chance?" Shinji asked.

"Well Gendo is doing his best for some reason to keep the other pilots from being used." Sideswipe said "And the other pilot here is in no shape to pilot Eva 01."

"Really?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah and the JSSDF still being in charge has to be annoying him." Sideswipe said "Only he isn't whining like Starscream would."

"And they aren't talking to you guys?" Shinji asked.

"Well they certain don't look like they want any help from us." Sideswipe said "Not we can blame them after Tokyo-3 got trashed."

"You guys need to do a press conference." Shinji said.

"We got something planned." Sideswipe said with a huge grin. That worried Shinji because he could tell it was going to be like a prank.

-

A few days later Shinji was taking out the trash and Raindance vibrated. Given he was set to ring if he got a call, someone unknown was close to Shinji's position.

Shinji was on guard when he heard a man say "Shinji Ikari. We need to talk."

"Who are you?" Shinji asked.

"Jiro Kurita."

Shinji turned and saw a nondescript man. It was the sort of person that would fade into the background of a photo or security footage. He didn't make any threatening movements and Shinji had a feeling he knew exactly what his SDAT and cell phone were.

"And what do you want to talk about Mr. Kurita?" Shinji asked.

"It seems a pilot is required for Evangelion 01." Kurita said.

"They do have a pilot." Shinji said "I sent her a get well card when I found out she'd been hurt really badly."

"And you are also the first person to make contact with an alien race." Kurita noted.

"Well that has proof." Shinji said "And they never heard of the greys."

"Quite." Kurita said "In any case you are in a unique position."

"What's in it for me?" Shinji said.

"Yes we heard Gendo was unsurprised for you to wanting a contract."

"Well there wasn't any giant monster on the loose and I honestly thought he'd not pay me anywhere near as much as I should be." Shinji said.

"Well we are willing to pay that." Kurita said.

"And to keep an eye on the Transformers and my father." Shinji said "The Autobots I could but my father....I doubt I'll be close enough to him to even to know what hours he works at NERV."

"Just keep as close an eye on him as you can." Kurita said.

"Guess I'll have to ask my room mate to become pilot of Eva 01." Shinji said hoping this deal wouldn't go badly for him or the Autobots.

-

Gendo Ikari walked out of the elevator and into the bowels of the Geo Front to oversee the workers and scientists disassembling and studying the Transformer bodies he had. The whole area was a "blind spot" to MAGI. It was made to be that way in case someone had hacked the computer system and they needed a bolt hole to fight from.

He however didn't think he'd need to use it to hide his projects from JSSDF oversight. Due to the Ark crushing the 3rd Angel before an N2 mine was used, they still were in control.

"Doctor Arkeville report." Gendo commanded.

"The internals of these robots are amazing." Doctor Arkeville said.

"I don't care." Gendo said "What I want are results. What weaknesses and faults do they have?"

"So far the only weapons that would work on them are N2 mines and the positronic rifle the JSSF is working." Arkeville said.

Gendo found that to be promising news. Most promising.

"However we have discovered something disturbing." Arkeville said "In looking into their memory cores we have found there is a whole planet of them."

"Cybertron." Gendo said. Inwardly Gendo wondered if destroying the ships and their captains would be more of a pain then it was worth. And right now with the N2 mines he held the upper hand. And thankfully the Transformers didn't know that.

Gendo looked at the half disassembled Transformers and pondered what using technology from the Evangelions would do. The mad scientist the Autobots had was proving their technology worked with the Evas so creating his own army using their bodies was possible.

The old men had been spooked by Megatron. Gendo had to give the Decepticon credit. He had SEELE chasing their shadows and spending their time tightening security. Which made it easier for him to misdirect their spies watching him.

And now with the Transformers he could have something far more stable then the Dummy project. And maybe even have a few Transformers left after it was over for Yui to tinker with. She'd love to explore how they worked.

Gendo then made a mental note to turn the hand of one of the Transformers into a chair for his office.

-

School was a nice bit of normality for Shinji. Secret organizations fighting giant monsters, alien robots from other worlds, and his own transorganic mech all made him think he had the Chinese curse of living in interesting times.

Shinji wondered if he'd need Sideswipe to fight off the girls if they found out he was a giant robot pilot and had friends that turned into vehicles. For some reason he wondered if chicks dig giant robots. Then Shinji got an instant message from someone.

Shinji looked at the message about if he knew about the giant robots. He pondered what he should say if anything about Sideswipe, or Optimus Prime or Wheeljack.

He asked back if this was from the guy who camped out in front of the alien ship and hoped that would end this line of questioning.

Shinji groaned when that only seemed to make his mystery questioner even more excited. The onslaught of questions made him wish he had some device to play information on. Or at least distract the guy bugging him long enough to get away.

He then typed in that yes he did know the giant robots and to please leave him alone. It was a vain hope but Shinji prayed he got the hint.

One of the boys in the class, a bespectacled boy named Kensuke Aida gave a yelp as he shot to his feet.

Then a shadow appeared over him, as a tough looking boy in a sports jacket appeared over him.

After seeing Devastator and Megatron he came up a bit short on being scary though. Though Shinji put a hand on his SDAT just in case.

"You da kid wid dose big robots?" he growled in a thick Osaka accent.

"Not the ones with a purple symbol." Shinji said as he got up.

The tough boy grabbed Shinji by the collar. "Outside. Yous and me gots something to discuss."

Shinji felt reassured by his SDAT and cell phone. He wasn't sure what they'd turn into but he was sure they'd be a big help in this situation.

When they got outside Shinji looked Toji in the eye.

"Right then, newbie, dis ain't nothin' personal, you understand." he said. "But you and your giant robot friends put my little sis in da hospital wid your stupid antics."

"You do realize it was one of them got her to the hospital right?" Shinji asked as he got out his SDAT.

Said SDAT flew out of Shinji's hand and transformed into a heavily armed tank. A 17 foot tall tank, but it still had it's barrel pointed menacingly at Touji. Shinji was impressed that definitely was a bodyguard that no one would want to mess with.

Touji stared at the sight of this, and went bone-white. "Mama..." he said softly.

"Now are we going to discuss this like civilized beings?" Shinji asked.

"And you do realize Optimus Prime dove to save your sister from being blown to atoms by Megatron right? He took several shots from Megatron's fusion cannon to keep her alive."

"His what?" Touji asked.

"Something you won't want to be shot with." Shinji said "Like whatever he's packing."

Shinji pointed his thumb at Grand Slam's turrent and missiles.

"My name is Grand Slam." Grand Slam said.

"Nice to meet you Grand Slam." Shinji said.

"Likewise Shinji." Grand Slam said.

Touji pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Then Shinji's cellphone rang.

Shinji picked up his phone.

"An Angel is coming?" Shinji said "Straight from MAGI. Got it."

"An Angel is coming?" Touji said.

"That's what Blaster said." Shinji replied "You better get to the shelter."

Shinji then held out his hand and Grand Slam turned back into a SDAT. Shinji smiled and felt a lot safer. He then wondered how he'd get to the Geo Front. Shinji got a message to go out in front of the school.

A white Mazda RX-8 with no driver came to pick him up. Shinji smiled and got into Jazz.

-

"Sir we have an incoming call...from the Autobots." Satsuki Ooi said.

"Put it up." Gendo commanded.

"We stand ready to help you the Angel" Optimus Prime said.

"That won't be necessary." Gendo said.

"Really? You won't want help in dealing with this entity?" Optimus said.

"No this is what NERV was set up for and we don't require your aid." Gendo said.

"Slag off." Grimlock said as his image appeared on the screen "I don't even listen to Optimus so why would I give a slag about what some Starscream wannabe says? The Dinobots are ready to kick butt."

"I'd say he's more a mix of Starscream, Swindle, Shockwave and Megatron." Sideswipe commented.

Gendo knew he had been insulted.

"Given you don't have any control or treaties with the Autobots I believe there is nothing you can do." Prowl said.

"You could have just told him to slag off like I did Prowl." Grimlock snapped.

Gendo had an internal battle on which transformer he'd have the hand used to be made into his chair. It seemed he'd need to buy a house and use their hands to decorate it.

He also pondered putting an optic or two over the mantle. As much as he'd want to use their heads, they were too big for that.

Though that would be for after his destroying them all.

"Very well do whatever you like then." Gendo said curtly before cutting the connection.

At the Ark Prowl kept silent. He would speak with Optimus Prime later given he knew Prime would be leading this mission from the front lines. They had to prepare for any backstabbing on Gendo Ikari's part.

"Hound, Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, Brawn and Tracks." Optimus Prime ordered "Transform and roll out!"

-

Shinji raised an eyebrow as they filled the Eva's cockpit with LCL. He was also thankful for wearing the plug suit. He had no idea if even dry cleaning could get whatever stains and smells this stuff would leave on his normal clothes. And it lead Shinji to wonder who honestly thought fulling the cockpit with orange goo that smelled like blood was a good idea.

And of course letting Gendo Ikari run NERV. Optimus Prime made Gendo Ikari look like a petty power mad tyrant by comparison.

"This is disgusting." Shinji commented.

"Be a man." Misato said.

"You want do this?" Shinji commented "I can sit on a bridge and throw out commentary while you drive a giant robot in battle."

"Only those born after Second Impact can drive the Evas Shinji." Misato said.

"Someone has been watching way too much anime." Shinji muttered. Though Shinji mused his life since entering Tokyo-3 seemed to be something ripped from the pages of Shonen Jump.

"What was that?" Ritsuko pointedly asked.

"Nothing." Shinji said.

"A more Mazinger Z or Gundam base would work better." Wheeljack mused "Or perhaps some Macross."

Ritsuko shuttered thinking about the Jet Alone project after Wheeljack got his hands on it. She got a headache going over some of the design changes the Autobot mad scientist wanted to make to the Evangelion. And she didn't even want to think what he'd do to Trident.

"Now Shinji I haven't been able to deal with the bio neural feedback problem." Wheeljack said "The improved A-10 clips will lessen the feelings of pain."

"Thanks Wheeljack." Shinji said.

Ritsuko made a face. Wheeljack's improvements to the A-10 clips were impressive but in his own words just a stopgap measure while he worked on something better. It made her jealous. The enhancements were so obvious in retrospect and it was just a side project while Wheeljack was working on a matter replicator!

And the frightening part to Ritsuko was that she was sure Wheeljack would be able to pull it off. She also worried if Doctor Brian Jones in NERV US was going to talk with Wheeljack.

The creator of Eva 04 wasn't happy at the lack of funding to improve the Evas. He was also the only Evangelion designer that hadn't ended up inside their Eva. For some reason Ritsuko had a feeling that Doctor Jones would be very interested in energon.

"Now Shinji." Misato said "You need to treat the Evangelion like it is an extension of your body."

"And remember your practice." Ritsuko said "Neutralize the AT Field, then open fire."

"Right." Shinji said "Now let's get this over with."

"Eva 01! Launch!" Misato ordered.

With that order the Evangelion was rocketed to the surface.

When Shinji reached the surface he saw possibly the strangest thing in his life. The oddly shaped Angel trying to hit a blue flying car with wings. Shinji then saw his friend Sideswipe flying around with a jet pack.

Shinji pulled himself together and raised his pallet gun. He aimed and fired at Shamshel. Shinji just hoped the bullets would do better then Wheeljack thought they'd do. Otherwise he'd just pissed off a very large monster.

The bullets hit the AT Field and stopped dead.

"I told you those things were worthless." Wheeljack said in the Eva bay.

Ritsuko muttered several interesting curse words under her breath.

A lightning quick attack with an energy whip cut through the pallet gun like it was made out of wet cardboard. Shinji also found his footing thrown off as another energy whip went behind him and and cut through the road behind him.

Before Shamshel could turn Eva 01 into sashimi Brawn fired off a few shots with his blaster. The 4th Angel turned to attack the gnat that was annoying it. With it's back turned Sideswipe blasted it. To the amazement of NERV the lasers went through the AT field like it wasn't there and cut deep into the Angel's flesh. Grey blood flowed from the wound of the angel.

Shamshel turned to face Sideswipe, and found itself in the sights of Optimus Prime's trailer. A withering barrage of firepower was unleashed into the Angel. The snake shaped giant monster was nearly hit in the core and ran away from the Combat Platform.

Then a massive Evangelion size yellow and grey Transformer appeared. It had a massive laser cannon for one hand, and claws on the other. The giant transformer surprised everyone and the appeared to recoil in fear. Shamshel then went on the offensive and it's light whips went right through the hologram. The hologram faded away instantly.

Shinji managed to get to Eva 01 on it's feet. Though Shinji wasn't sure what he was going to use against the Angel.

"Shinji I'm sending you another pallet rifle." Misato said. Shinji wasn't sure that was a good idea. The last one did two things to the Angel.

Jack and shit and jack just left town.

Hound and Brawn laid down some cover fire as Shinji went for the second rifle. However Shamshel destroyed the second rifle with his whip like arms.

Suddenly one of the laser whips wrapped around the leg of Eva 01 and Shinji knew this was going to hurt a lot. And as he slammed into a the side of a hill he was right.

"We're so dead." Touji stated. The pair had left the hill since Kensuke wanted a closer look at the giant robots. Touji remembered the one got a close up look at and shuttered.

"Prime we got spectators." Hound said.

"I'm on it." Trailbreaker said.

"Why did I listen to you?" Touji yelled "We could of died in the shelter but dis will make it nearly a certain thing we die!"

It was then a black pick up truck with a camper drove up in front of them. Then before their eyes it changed from a pick up truck into a giant robot.

"Hi" Trailbreaker said "You know we've been discussing letting you into the Ark." Kensuke's eyes lit up realizing the giant robots knew about him and were thinking of letting him inside their spaceship. Trailbreaker wondered if letting that kid into the Ark was a good idea.

"Dis is what you've been up to?" Touji said "I thought you had an ugly girlfriend you didn't want anyone to see. Should have guessed it'd be giant robots."

"Your concern is touching." Trailbreaker said as he raised his force field. The debris smashed against it but didn't get through.

Touji thought that was awesome. Then he realized on telling people about this experience there was one person would be very pissed he was out in the middle of a war zone. Especially since he told her they were going to the bathroom.

"Aw, man... Class Rep'll have our hides for this.." Touji muttered.

"Totally worth it." Kensuke said. Touji wondered if blaming Kensuke for the whole thing would get him off a bit lighter with Hikari.

In his Evangelion Shinji just shook his head at their stupidity. He then dodged the laser arm of the 4th Angel. The guns he used were as useless as Wheeljack said they were. Not that it surprised Shinji given how well artillery did against the last Angel.

The disturbingly shaped Angel's whip-like tentacles rushed forwards again. It was then Optimus Prime blasted the 4th Angel repeatedly with his laser rifle. The energy beam went through the AT Field like it wasn't even there. With the Angel distracted, Shinji slugged it.

The force of the blow send the eel shaped Angel rocketed into the ground. Shinji felt pain in his hand from where the Eva hit the Angel.

"Note to Doctor Akagi and Wheeljack." Shinji said "I need brass knuckles for the Eva."

"Duely noted." Doctor Akagi said

Shinji moved back as the 4th Angel got up. With a quick motion he got out the Prong Knife. While it was useful Shinji was looking forward to the ax Wheeljack promised him. Better range, made out Cybertronian metals and with an edge that should be able to cut through titanium like a chainsaw through hot butter.

The 4th Angel was then distracted by flying objects. Sideswipe and Tracks hit and run the massive creature. Their lasers struck dead on and the Angel waved its arms in an attempt to swat them out of the air. However the pair were too nimble and fast for that tactic to work.

Hound, Optimus Prime, and Brawn fired on Shamshel. The Angel whipped a building to drop debris on them.

The Autobots scattered other then Brawn who grabbed a large piece of the debris and hurled at the 4th Angel.

Sideswipe then turned for another pass and blasted Shamshel in the eyes. As the Angel let out an unholy scream of agony Shinji stabbed it's core with his Prong Knife. The Angel became like a puppet who had it's stings cut. Shinji pushed the dead monster back.

The crashing to the ground of Shamshel set off various car alarms around the city.

"Are the two guys who got ring side seats ok Trailbreaker?" Shinji asked.

"They're fine." Trailbreaker said.

"Good." Shinji said "I didn't want them to get hurt."

"Though those two definitely would make that difficult with how slagging stupid they are." Brawn commented.

"You can't save some people from themselves." Tracks commented.

"Still you got to try." Shinji said.

-

Gendo had a headache. The incident with the Angel had the UN wondering who and what the Transformers were. He had been ordered to Geneva to tell them all about the robots. Still he had one bit of pleasure to do before leaving.

"And what your superiors think of charging into battle and disobeying the orders of the local authorities?" Gendo snarled.

"Commander Ikari there is no higher authority in the Autobot army." Optimus Prime said.

"I see." Gendo said.

"And Megatron is the high commander of the Decepticons." Optimus Prime "Nicknamed the Emperor of Destruction."

Gendo felt his plans shatter. He assumed he was nearly with starship captains and that Prime was a title like captain. Now he found out he was dealing with faction leaders and that their forces won't let them stay out of contact for long.

He'd need plans, and ways to fight them. At the moment they had just became far,far more important then the Angels. He knew what to expect out of the Angels. The Transformers seemed to love throwing him curve balls.

The first thing would to have his own energon powered mecha. As powerful as the Evangelions were he needed trained military troops. The first was reliable for now at least, the second too arrogant and egotistical for this, the third already on their side, the fourth likely already wowed by them, the fivth was one of SEELE's, and the sixth was even more reckless and arrogant then the second.

Gendo then smiled realizing letting Wheeljack improve the Evangelions, Jetalone and Trident would work in his favor. Using his advancements in their technology along with what his scientists learned from the guts of the Transformers would be an ironic twist to deal with him.


	4. Chapter 4

Gendo Ikari was relieved. The Scenario had been heavily damaged by the appearance of the Transformers. It was beyond his wildest dreams for sentient alien machines to show up.

Yet now with the UN meeting on the Transformers he could put everything back on track. Seed that the Transformers and Angels were one and the same. Possibly get the budget increased for NERV in the process. And get the JSSDF out of command of the operation.

Before Gendo could speak before the Council a message suddenly appeared in a flash of light.

It was for everyone to move to the left and everyone did just that.

Suddenly in a beam of light Optimus Prime appeared in the UN Chambers. He was unarmed and barely fit into the massive chamber of the room.

"Greeting UN Council." Optimus Prime said "There wasn't enough room for me to get in here so Orbital Bounce was the only option available."

Gendo was shocked and worried. One of them would be able to give a speech before the UN. And before he had the chance to give his own speech.

The UN Ambassador from Canada fell out of her chair and the two diplomats beside her dipped out of view to check up on her.

The US Ambassador was just sitting there with their mouth wide open.

The British Ambassador had pulled a sandwich and a thermos flask of tea out and was enjoying the floorshow with a big grin.

The Brazilian Ambassador was speaking gibberish as he stared at Optimus Prime.

The Secretary-General banged his desk with a gavel, trying to bring order to the chaos.

"My apologies Secretary General." Optimus Prime said "But I didn't have the chance to set an appointment."

"Quite.." The old man said dryly. "But I think we can waive that for now. I believe you had something to speak about?"

"There is much misinformation and speculation about my race going around." Optimus Prime said "I am here to set the record straight before someone does something rash."

The Secretary-General nodded. "Very well. The floor is yours.. As is part of the ceiling, incidently." he pointed at one of Prime's exhaust stacks, which had a concrete breeze-block lodged around it.

" I am Optimus Prime. I am a Transformer. We are a race of autonomous robotic organisms and our history spans 10 billion years." Optimus Prime said.

Optimus pulled out a silver cube. It flew out of his hand and shifted with various monitors appearing on it.

The UN saw a metal world with massive cities, a mountain range or two, vast metal plains, and three moons orbiting it.

"This is Cybertron." Optimus Prime said "My home planet."

"After the Second Civil War, there was an age of peace." Optimus Prime said "Some even called it a Golden Age."

Suddenly the UN representives see a gladiator pit with two robots beating each other up. One was silver in color and in far better shape and larger then the green robot he was fighting. The crowd around them is chanting.

"From illegal gladiator games rose a voice for the disenfrancised." Optimus Prime said.

The green robot was defeated and the silver one cut his head off. The silver one raised his fist.

"Megatron."

A soft murmur filled the chamber.

"With his army of outcasts and gladiators Megatron started the 3rd Civil War." Optimus Prime said.

The image changes to one of Megatron and his forces demolishing a city. The uniform white and black robots trying to stop them were slaughtered. They saw one Decepticon moving at nearly impossible speeds and hacking up the defenders with a sword. They also saw a purple Decepticon with sexagonal head and yellow rod for a face and a massive gun for one arm with extreme skill kill the police force Autobots in one or two shoots.

Then whoever is recording this his attacked what looked like a robotic panther on steroids with a spiked tail. The spiked tail was the last thing the UN council saw before the video faded to black.

"I was a collator of data back in those early days." Optimus Prime said "I wasn't on the front lines but even I could see that Megatron won't stop until he had the whole planet under his heel."

The scene changes again. A very Optimus-like robot is fighting Megatron. Megatron is pounding the other robot.

"That is Sentinel Prime." Optimus Prime said "And this is what Megatron did to him."

The image changes to Megatron sitting in a throne. The throne is clearly Sentinel Prime's corpse.

A mutter of revulsion at the sight circulated.

"Of course after I became Prime." Optimus Prime said "I learned that ruling Cybertron is only the first step of what Megatron plans. He wishes to rule the Galaxy with Cybertron as his capitial."

"I have been doing all I can to stop him." Optimus Prime said "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

The Canadian Ambassador was the first to say it. "Freedom is the Right of all Sentient Beings? Hmmm... That's got a nice sound to it..." she commented.

"Also I would like to dispel the rumor the Angels having anything to do with us." Optimus Prime said "Oddly the closest DNA match to them are homo saipens."

The silence that followed was so complete, you could hear a pin drop. _Everyone_ turned to look at Gendo.

"It wasn't until now we had evidence of their origin." Gendo Ikari said smoothly.

Inside he was extremely angry that Optimus Prime had crushed the best avenue to turn the UN against the Transformers.

"Is that so, Mister Ikari?" the Secretary-General said, taking a secret delight in taking Gendo down a peg or two.

"Yes it is Secretary-General." Gendo said "And I can still say the origins the Angels are not of this world. And their threat hasn't gone away. After all we can't expect alien starships to land on all of them."

The Secretary-General ignored the pointed barb.

"Supreme Commander Ikari." Optimus Prime said "The Angels are the least of your worries compared to the Decepticons."

Gendo had to admit he liked the sound of the title supreme commander. A title to adopt at a later date when he got the chance, and control over the fight with the Angels.

"This planet is extremely rich in resources." Optimus Prime said "Removing the local lifeforms to get to them is something the Decepticons consider a game."

"The Evangelions, Jetalone, and Trident are not enough." Optimus Prime said "Fortunely my chief scientist has taken an interest in improving them."

"How nice of him." Gendo managed to say.

However anyone who knew Gendo Ikari well knew he'd rather have gargled razor blades then say that.

"And what exactly do you want for giving this assistance?" the Russian Ambassador asked.

"Room to build a solar energy collection tower in Tokyo-3." Optimus Prime said "And to put in a bid to help rebuild Tokyo-03."

"Excuse me." the Turkish Ambassador said "But what the hell were you thinking landing your starship in a populated city?!"

"The navigation system on the Ark had been damaged." Optimus Prime said "That we came out of Transwarp in one piece was a miracle."

"And drove right into a city?"

"At the time we had no control over where the Ark went." Optimus Prime said "It was a relief to me no one was hurt in that crash."

"Other then the Angel of course." the US ambassador said.

"Excuse me." the Russian Ambassador said "Transwarp?"

"Transwarp is the closest our term for faster then light travel translates into human terms." Optimus said.

"Next you'll tell us you have star gates." the US ambassador muttered.

"We call them Space Bridges." Optimus Prime commented.

"So an invasion fleet could be on it's way here?" Gendo said trying to stir fears.

"As soon as Megatron regains contact with Cybertron." Optimus said "He will try. Or contact mercenary groups like the Mayhem Attack Squad."

Gendo filed the name Mayhem Attack Squad for later. In case he needed Cybertronian pawns willing to do his dirty work for him. Though first he'd have to figure out how to make the call across the galaxy for them.

"And what exactly do you want?" the Italian Ambassador asked.

"To stop the Decepticons." Optimus Prime said "And these Angels that also are threatening your world."

Optimus brought up footage of the battle with the 4th Angel and how he and his troops were able to injury the giant monster with their laser weapons on his Cybernet Space Cube.

Gendo was relieved that Eva 01 had killed the Angel. Otherwise he doubted he'd have a budget to speak of. Though he was sure the idea of an AntiTransformers combat unit was fermenting in the minds of some of the Ambassadors.

"Any other surprises you want to drop on us?" the Argentine Ambassador asked.

"Would that the MAGI super computer in Tokyo-3 is sentient and dating my Head Science Officer count?" Optimus Prime asked.

"Ummm...yes it would." the Argentine Ambassador said dumbfounded.

"And I thought there were weird internet relationships." the Mexican Ambassador muttered.

"What makes that MAGI unit different is that it works like a memory crystal." Optimus Prime said "The mind of it's creator Doctor Naoko Akagi was copied and has been a part of that unit. She considered no human to be...intellectually smart enough to engage in conversation with."

"But the MAGI units around the world are the same." the German Ambassador said "And that Doctor Akagi programed something...that wasn't quite as advanced as you said."

"What Doctor Akagi had done with MAGI and the creation of the Evangelions is most impressive." Optimus Prime said "Especially with the primitive technology. It is to you like the Roman Empire launching a rocket into space."

"The only real flaw in the Evangelions is their power sources." Optimus Prime noted "The batteries are crude don't even last a breem and the power cord is a huge and easy target."

"A breem?" the UK Ambassador asked.

"Eight and a half minutes." Optimus Prime said "Thankfully now Evangelion One now is powered by energon."

The Cybernet space cube changed to an image of a room full of pinkish glowing cubes.

"This is the life's fuel of my race." Optimus Prime said "It can be produced from any other form of energy, concentrated into a physical form and far more efficient then any of the fuel sources currently used on this planet."

Optimus Prime then pulled out a small sliver of energon.

"This piece of energon could power Evangelion One for several weeks." Optimus Prime said.

Gendo thought to himself how he could make the UN think the Transformers were too good to be true, if it wasn't for the fact they had a civil war raging on Earth and they were dealing with just one faction. Though there would be paranoid individuals with money and resources willing to think the whole thing was a facade and be willing to use them to destroy the Autobots and Decepticons.

It was a short term goal as his scientists worked to understand the Transformers and how they ticked. He needed their technology so his ultimate goal could happen. He would be reunited with Yui. No matter the cost.

"And to answer a question." Optimus Prime "We haven't ever encountered the alien race you call the greys. However many races have gone out of their way to avoid Cybertron so if they exist or not is unknown."

Optimus Prime the brought up Eva 01 training with a massive ax. With a single swing it cut through the 3rd Angel, and Shinji rolled to avoid an attack from the 4th Angel.

A gun came out of a building and it looked a lot like the pallet rifle, yet Gendo noticed several differences. The biggest being a sphere attached where the ammo would be. There was a sudden burst of air coming out of the rifle and going through what appeared to be an AT Field around Shamshel and hit it right in the core. The core cracked but the Angel was still moving.

The laser whips went for Eva 01's feet, but Shinji back flipped over them. Then the compressed air gun was fired at the 4th Angel, but it managed to protect it's core and took the burst of air in the side.

Shinji surprised them by starting to run and the handle of the axe extended and Evangelion 01 pole vaulted at the 4th Angel. The Eva's feet connected with the core of Shamshel.

Suddenly Evangelion 00 appears and Shinji uses his axe's longer reach to keep out of range of a crazed Eva 00 armed with a prong knife. The crazed Eva rushed Shinji and hit him with a right cross.

Evangelion 01 dropped the compressed air gun. Shinji dodged to the side another rush by Eva 00 and cut the hand with the prong knife off. Eva 00 smacked Eva 01 with the handless arm.

Eva 01 cut the power cord for Eva 00 and tried to bind the transorganic with the severed cord. The deranged Evangelion thrashed around before running out of power. Eva 01 dropped the depowered mech to the ground.

Then a voice echoed through the UN chambers.

"Prepare for extermination!"

A purple fist slammed into the chest of Eva-01. The Evangelion was knocked into a sky scraper by the force of the blow. Then another punch drove the Evangelion through the building.

The sky scraper then fell on Eva 01. The Eva burst forth from the rubble. Then the UN council got to see Devasator in all his glory. It looked like a green golem made up of construction vehicles in a humanoid shape.

Devastator picked up the Evangelion by the throat and slammed it to the ground. A foot that looked like it was made from a bulldozer kicked the downed mech. They heard an arm of Eva 01 snap when it was kicked.

Devastator fired his massive gun at Eva 01's face and the video ended.

Gendo wondered where they got the likeness of Evangelion 00. He definitely wasn't happy it had been used in that video. Whoever leaked it was going to be...dealt with.

"What..what was that thing?" the US ambassador asked.

"That was Devastator." Optimus Prime said "And there are not many things in the universe that can hope to face him and live."

"Right." the US Ambassador said.

"After we reestablish contact with Cybertron I'd like to suggest one of my ambassadors be made part of the UN." Optimus Prime said.

"You intend to have an ambassador in the UN?" the Russian Ambassador asked.

"We're staying until the Decepticons are beaten or we are forced to leave the Earth." Optimus Prime said. What he left unsaid was the plans to set up a base on the Moon, or Mars, or in any number of massive asteroids in the Solar System.

All locations the UN had no control or say over the Autobots moving to and setting up shop. No matter what the United Nations ordered or said, Optimus Prime was not going to abandon the Earth to the Decepticons.

Or to Gendo Ikari, whom had the spark of a Decepticon in the eyes of Optimus Prime. The only real questions involved what Gendo was planning and how to stop him from achieving his goals that would ruin the world.

-

In the depths around the Nemesis Snaptrap and the Seacons explored the sea of death. Even if it was filled with life, the biggest predator would Snaptrap. Known as the Butcher of the Bogs, Snaptrap had slaughtered a whole battalion of Autobots.

And now they had found a combiner sized lance on the ocean floor.

"Interesting." Seawing said "And it should prove useful."

"Who leaves something this big sitting around?" Overbite asked "Unless Sc."

"There is no way he would leave this behind." Snap Trap said "We must take this to Megatron."

-

Deep within Gendo's hidden base Doctor Arkeville looked at Henry Masters and wondered if crushing his throat would be worth it. The man spoke in nonsense terms and frankly was annoying.

"Total Pwnage!" Henry Masters said as he attached his control unit to a Decepticon Seekers body.

Still if his "Headmaster" process worked some annoyance was worth putting up with.


	5. Chapter 5

"Misato." Shinji asked "Who leaked we were the first to make contact with the Transformers? I think there's about 10 people following me trying to take my picture."

Misato frowned, and glanced back over her shoulder. If anyone had been taking pictures of them with their cellphones they had turned their attention to something other then a military officer part of an organization that basically ran the town.

Shinji nearly laughed when he saw a stand with transformable toys in the likeness of the Transformers. He was sure that there was going to be an explosion of giant robot animes and revivals of classic giant robot series because of the Transformers.

Misato sighed. "The Wheeler-dealers are out in force, I see."

"With plans for a cartoon, a movie, and so much other crap." Shinji said "Seriously would I have gotten this much stuff made about me?"

"Probably not; NERV takes a dim view of such things." Misato said. And then realized exactly how much money the Autobots were likely to make off those endeavors.

"That and I'm sure our commander on any poster or such would give children nightmares." Shinji joked.

Misato snickered at that. "Maybe they should use that against the Angels." she joked

"If that doesn't work a picture of the Ark might." they heard behind them. They turned and saw a man in his mid 20s wearing jeans and a red t-shirt. He smiled at them and found their looks of confusion amusing.

"Sorry, do we know you?" Misato asked, subtly moving to place herself between the man and Shinji.

"I usually turn into a Dodge Viper." the man said.

Misato glanced at Shinji. "One of your friends?"

"Sideswipe?!" Shinji said "But how?"

"Holomatter." Sideswipe said "We call can project holograms when our normal forms are too big and don't fit in with the local life forms."

"And Hound can do holograms for more then that?"

Sideswipe nodded and said "Yeah he's way better that then any of us."

Shinji looked at Sideswipe for a moment. He knew the bot well enough to know he would do something with holomatter for a joke. There were so many possibilities for a prank to be pulled involving that that Sideswipe had to have done something.

"What prank did you pull in on the other Autobots involving that?" Shinji asked.

"We gave Ratchet the holomatter avatar that looked like Robert Picardo for a joke." Sideswipe said. Shinji snorted thinking about that.

"You guys got any more surprises up your sleeves?" Misato asked once she found her voice.

"We call can speak Klingon." Sideswipe commented.

"Otaku must be hardier than cockroaches, I swear..." Misato muttered.

"We learned everything we know about the human race off the internet." Sideswipe said.

"You might want to double-check your facts then." Misato said dryly.

"So Gendo doesn't really drink the blood of goats and demand virgins be taken to his private quarters in the Geo Front?" Sideswipe asked.

Misato blinked. "Where'd you hear that insane rumor?"

"MAGI told us that." Sideswipe said.

"I see....." she said slowly.

"I think it's a good thing she wasn't talking to people." Shinji said "Either that or the commander really pissed off the creator of MAGI."

"Didn't Rits say that her mother built the MAGI?" Misato mused to herself.

"Which kind of means that her dead mother has a boyfriend that's an alien robot." Shinji said "From what I was told about memory crystals."

Misato blinked. "Boy... That'd give anyone a complex; and Rits once told me that she and her mother....."

"And the fact Wheeljack is at least 30 times smarter then she is?" Sideswipe asked.

"You said it, not me."

"So your friend is working a matter replicator, turn rubies into a powerful fuel source since they're similar to raw Energon, and ways to refine Space Bridge travel in her spare time?" Sideswipe asked. And Sideswipe was sure he had forgotten a few of Wheeljack's side projects.

"Point taken." she said after a moment.

"Exactly how hard would it be for MAGI to give the Transformers security cards for their hologram forms?" Shinji asked.

"Well.... They'd need to be cleared by both the Operations Director and the Sub-Commander, after a thorough and complete background check."

"After all, it would be bad if just anyone could come and go as they pleased, wouldn't it?" she said

"Don't they kind of do that anyway?" Shinji asked.

"The UN's budget isn't enough to fully fund all the Departments at NERV. Section 2, that's the Security Section, is usually the branch that gets the short straw, funding-wise." Misato admitted awkwardly.

"Plus the fact MAGI lets us in." Sideswipe said.

"There is that, too."

"And we wouldn't be surprised if Ravage or Laserbeak has built a Decepticon outpost in the Geo Front." Sideswipe said.

"I mean Teletran One has trouble with their stealth as it is." Sideswipe muttered.

"Who, or what, are they?" Misato asked, concerned about it.

"The best spies in the Decepticon army." Sideswipe said "They're as good as hiding as Mirage, only they can't turn invisible like he can."

"I see..." she said darkly, as they walked past a hobby shop.

Sideswipe laughed as he saw the model kits of the Transformers.

Misato paused, and looked at a display of Tamiya kits. "I used to make those, when I was younger." she said softly

Her hand reached out, and touched the window in front of the display."

"Aren't you going to do something to cheer up your girlfriend?" Sideswipe asked Shinji.

"Huh?" Shinji said.

"Isn't she your girlfriend?" Sideswipe asked "I mean you are living with her."

"She's my guardian and you know that." Shinji said. Shinji then saw the smile on Sideswipe's face and knew he was just pulling his leg.

Misato seemed lost in memories, and didn't seem to hear them. Then a horrible, horrible smell hit their noses. It was like someone had blown up the rest room of a college university.

That brought Misato to her senses. "Kami above, what is that stench!?"

"Zombies." Sideswipe said "Glad I don't have brains or flesh for them to try to eat."

Misato wheeled around to respond to that, but the words died in her mouth. "Oh my God... Shibito....." she said.

Coming at them were several corpse. They didn't look very decayed but they were definitely dead. One had a huge cut across the neck that had metal clearly visible under the rotted flesh. They were all dressed in some grey body suit. Their eyes seemed unfocused and that just added to creepiness of it all.

Misato looked horrified; she'd left her gun back at NERV. "Shinji, run!" she ordered.

Sideswipe surprised Misato and Shinji by lifting a bolted down bench and slamming the zombies with it Sideswipe drove the zombies into a wall with and pressed as hard as he could.

Misato gave Sideswipe a grateful look, before grabbing Shinji's hand. "C'mon!" she said

Shinji took off with Misato, and both saw that there were more zombies in the mall.

Misato noticed that there was a liquor store nearby, and decided to risk seeing if the owner of the store had a shotgun or something inside.

"Misato." Shinji said "Look."

Several police officers opened fire on the zombies, but the bullets didn't stop them. It made holes in them, but it seemed to just annoy them at most.

"These are not your common or garden zombies then..." Misato said

"You mean there are other kinds of zombies that are real?" Shinji asked surprised.

Misato said nothing, now focused entirely on getting Shinji and herself out of danger. Around them everyone was panicking and screaming.

When they got out to the parking lot they found it over run with zombies. An orange Volvo FH Globetrotter semi tractor-trailer cab came out and started running over zombies.

"Do any of you have any idea how disgusting these are? Huffer yelled.

Misato pulled Shinji over to where her Renault Alpine was parked. "We need to get to NERV." she said.

Shinji made sure there wasn't anything hiding in the back seat. Thankfully there wasn't anything in the back like a zombie.

Misato dived in, and gunned the engine. Shinji got in the car as fast as he could and slammed the door.

Misato belted up, and with a screech of tires, the sports car shot out of the parking lot.

Shinji panted.

"Exactly what I can I against zombies? I mean Eva 01 is a bit too big for that."

"I don't know, but it has to be safer in the Geofront than out here." Misato reasoned.

"I'd feel safer if I had a flame thrower." Shinji said.

"So would I." she said distantly, as they drove pell-meel through the city

They soon found the roads congested with traffic from people fleeing the zombies. Cars even drove on the sidewalks to try to get around the traffic.

"Damn! We'll have to find another route." Misato muttered

"And I think the panic is killing more people then the zombies." Shinji said.

Misato nodded grimly, as she performed a J-Turn and went to look for another route. Shinji opened the window and threw his cellphone into the air. It transformed into a jet and went to scout head for them.

Misato blinked. "I don't remember that happening last time...."

"That was because I showed Grand Slam to Touji instead of Rain Dance." Shinji said.

"Rain Dance?" she asked, before putting two and two together. "That's your cellphone's name?"

Shinji nodded.

"Are they who they were talking about when the Autobots mentioned Guardians?"

"Guardians for me." Shinji said "The Guardian class is well..that hologram Hound used was one of them named Omega Supreme."

"Right..." she said, as she swerved to avoid an overturned car

They saw Rain Dance overhead shooting at the zombies. Bullets might not have stopped them but Autobot laser fire mowed down the zombies.

Misato braked sharply all of a sudden, seeing that this road was blocked as well. Shinji thought of the one place that should be safe and they could reach it.

"At this right we might as well go to the Ark." Shinji said.

She thought for a moment. "That might be the best course of action." she said, and turned down the side road.

The area around the Ark was clear of zombies, and anyone that could cause a mess on the road. Misato skidded to a stop outside the Ark. Outside the Ark Shinji was surprised to find Touji, Kensuke, and the Class Rep.

Shinji noticed Kensuke literally had a tent set up outside the Ark. He wasn't surprised at that.

Misato frowned. "What are you all doing here?"

"It seemed like the safest place to be." Kensuke said.

"He dragged us here before the zombie break out." Hikari said.

Touji looked a bit guilty.

"This would make the second time being around us saved them." Trailbreaker said as he exited the Ark.

Hikari shot Kensuke and Touji an annoyed look as she remembered what the first time was.

"Sorry, Class Rep...." Touji said

Rain Dance then flew over head. Though he didn't have a face, Shinji had a feeling he wasn't happy.

"It's like shokaract out there." Rain Dance said.

"Do I want to know what that means?" Misato muttered to Shinji.

"The end of the world." Shinji said.

Misato looked grim. In all honestly she thought the Angels or the Decepticons would be what destroyed Tokyo-3, not some zombie invasion.

"It gets worse." Trailbreaker said "Sky spy saw were the zombies are coming from."

"Where?' Hikari asked.

"Astrotrain is unloading them."

"One of the Decepticons?" Touji asked.

Trailbreaker nodded.

Misato looked rather confused about that. It didn't seem like the sort of weapon she expected the Decepticons to use. Like some giant laser or some bomb that made an N2 look like a fire cracker. Or even some powerful electromagnet.

"Giant robots are using zombies?!" Hikari yelled.

"Bulletproof zombies at that." Misato recalled

"I think it's less bullet proof and more the fact bullets can't stop dead things." Rain Dance said.

"And flame throwers aren't standard police or JSSDF issue." Misato muttered.

"And Doctor Akagi has left several calls to me." Rain Dance said "The Geo Front has gone into lock down. No one is to enter or leave."

"Just as well that we didn't end up going there then." Misato said

"We're trying to deal with this." Trailbreaker said "But it's a mess out there."

"I want to help." Misato said immediately

"I do as well." Shinji said. He knew the Autobots had his back in a crisis, and what friend would he be to do any less?

Misato smiled approvingly at Shinji's volunteering.

"So what can we do?" Touji asked.

"At the moment you three stay here." Rain Dance said. Rain Dance then transformed into a cellphone and landed in Shinji's hand.

Raindance called the JSSDF general in charge of the area.

"General Toru's office, Major Hakate speaking."

"This is Shinji Ikari and any calls of zombies attacking Tokyo-3 aren't prank calls. The Decepticons have created these zombies and probably just to cause the chaos that is happening now."

Hakate cursed under his breath. "Can you give us visual confirmation?"

"Video or picture?" Raindance asked.

"Either. I'll text you the address to send them to."

"I have plenty of both." Raindance said.

The address arrived a few moments later. The JSSDF got plenty pictures of zombies and a few video files. Rain Dance made sure to show them that the zombies were not eating any brains or flesh. Or even biting people at all. And that no one was being turned into zombies.

And shortly, they were on the move and wondered what happened to the battalion in Tokyo-3.

"All right, Ikari-san, we're on our way to assist."

"And from what I can tell these aren't going to eat flesh or brains. And that they can't be crippled by gun fire."Shinji said "Well anything short of a machine gun."

"All right. We'll be there at the double. Hold tight, and good luck." Major Hakate said, and hung up.

"Misato." Shinji said as he put his phone away "You think the communication lines in the Geo Front to the outside world are still ok?"

Misato flipped open her own mobile to try.

Her phone worked just fine. She dialed Ritsuko's number.

"C'mon... pick up, Rits...." Misato muttered.

"Hello?" Ritsuko said.

"Rits! It's Misato here!Kami, it's good to hear you." Misato said so fast Rain Dance and Trailbreaker wondered if she could beat Blurr.

"Well Shinji's phone told me you two were busy." Ritsuko commented.

"Rits, we've got a bad situation up here. Have you been monitoring it?"

"We're trying to figure out how to deal with the zombies." Ritsuko said "I'm not even sure how this is possible."

"We've found the source of it. It's the Decepticons engaged in terror warfare."

"I'd say they've done a great job at it." Ritsuko said grimly "We're barely keeping it together down here and the city has gone completely insane. Even during the Decepticon's attack on the city things were more orderly."

Misato looked up at Trailblazer. "Are the zombies actually doing anything other than just lurching around?"

"Stealing gasoline, batteries, generators, and other energy sources." Trailbreaker said.

"Right." Misato said, relaying this to Ritsuko. "Has the Commander been made aware of the situation?"

"If it were any other man I they were be dropping F bombs." Ritsuko said "Now he's ordering Section 2 to go out with flame throwers."

"We have flame throwers?" Misato said in surprise.

"I'm as surprised as you are." Ritsuko said.

"I'll call you back later, if anything changes." Misato said. "You keep safe there, Rits.'

"I'll try." Ritsuko said "And I'm sure you're at the Ark."

"Yeah, I am, but possibly not for much longer." Misato said

"You try to stay safe." Ritsuko said "And keep Shinji in one piece."

"Will do. Ja ne."

"Ja. Ne." Ritsuko said and hung up.

Misato pocketed her phone, and looked to Shinji and the others. "All right. You four stay here." she ordered

"He's got a tank in his pocket and you want him to stay here?" Touji asked.

Misato gave him a sharp look.

"Glad to be remembered." Grand Slam said from Shinji's pocket.

"Like I could ever forget." Touji muttered.

"Shinji.. keep these two idiots safe, ok?" she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "I'll be back soon."

"I'm sure Hikari will help me with that." Shinji commented. Hikari blushed slightly. She was amazed he even remembered her.

Misato nodded and smiled. "I'll be back soon." she said, and got back in her car.

"Yeah." Shinji said to Hikari "I know this is weird. But I think Tokyo-3 became a weirdness capital the instant a giant monster invaded it."

"And I think he's still under the Ark."Trailbreaker noted.

Shinji threw Rain Dance into the air and said "Look after Misato for me."

The jet form Autobot took off after Misato and her car.

Kensuke looked dazed as his eyes followed the departing Renault. "Shinji.... who was that?" he asked distantly

"Ummm Rain Dance?" Shinji said mistaking who Kensuke was asking about.

"No... That vision of loveliness you arrived with....."

"He noticed women." Touji said and looked relieved.

Hikari rolled her eyes and tutted.

"Hikari he's spend all his spare time since the Ark landed in that tent." Touji said.

It wasn't long before Misato returned, with several people packed in her car.

"You mean they aren't some promotional stunt for a Micheal Bay movie?!" one of the passengers said.

Misato shook her head. "Stay here, until the emergency ends. You'll be safe here."

"Zombies, giant monsters, giant robots...what's next? Super Villains?"

Misato bit back a comment about her boss.

"Well I'm sure the commander of NERV would wear armor and green cloak if he could get away with it." Shinji said feeling no need to hold back.

Misato snickered a little, before she left again, to look for more people in trouble.

Raindance flew above her car and was blasting any zombies that tried to get close to them. Misato leaned out of her car, and gave the jet a thumbs up.

"Pothole!" Raindance yelled.

She neatly swerved to avoid it.

"I do hope we win the bid to rebuild the city." Raindance said "After the Decepticons, the Angel, and now this Grapple rebuilding it would be a good idea."

"We'll see." Misato said, and began, somewhat morbidly, to whistle a Queen song.

The two found Zombies putting cans of gasoline into Ramjet. The Seeker was grumbling how he was an Elite member of the Decepticon Battlefleet and slag like this was for guys like Astrotrain.

Misato opened the glovebox of her car, and pulled out a pistol she'd "borrowed" from a police station.

"You sure that will do anything?" Rain Dance asked.

"It's worth a try." she said, leaning out and taking careful aim at all the fuel cans in the Seekers' cockpit.

There was a huge explosion as she hit one of the gas tanks. This set off the other gas tanks in the cockpit. Ramjet the amount of noise Ramjet made was like someone would make after fall down a few stairs. He transformed and tried to put out the fire in his chest.

Misato grinned. "Maybe I could enter the Olympics next year...."

"Maybe." Rain Dance said as he blasted the zombies coming at them.

"Any civilians in the area?" she then yelled to him.

"This area is clean of them." Rain Dance said "With Ramjet hopefully unable to show his face after a human hurt him."

Misato nodded, then drove off again. City seemed to be free of zombies, but it looked like everything that wasn't bolted down had been wrecked.

They came across the JSSDF forces using incendiary rounds, and bullets that when they hit flesh violently exploded. The igniting of flesh and violent blowing up of it was taking a toll on the zombies.

Misato pulled up at the barrier. "Major Katsuragi, NERV Operations Director!" she flashed her card. "Who's in charge here."

"Colonel Daniel I. Witwicky."

"Colonel, sir." she saluted.

"At ease Major." Colonel Witwicky said.

Misato nodded. "We've got quite a mess here sir, frankly."

"And we've seen some Section 2 NERV agents armed with flame throwers but that was it." Colonel Witwicky said "People are starting to think NERV is a one trick pony. Admittedly a necessary pony but..."

"I couldn't possibly comment, sir." Misato said delicately. "More importantly, sir, we're gathering up the civilians to get them to safety."

"The starship?"

She nodded. "They'll be safe there until we can evacuate them properly."

"You heard the woman men." Colonel Witwicky said "Get the civilians to the alien starship."

"Thank you, sir." she said.

Rain Dance flew ahead to help clear out any zombies ahead of the the task force. It was an odd experience for the troops given most of them had heard horror stories about what the Decepticons had done coming to Tokyo-3 and cleaning up the aftermath of that battle.

Misato the checked in with Shinji.

Shinji and his class mates were helping clear zombie bits off Huffer with a high pressure hose. And then spraying a substance that killed what made the stink. It was something Ratchet and Wheeljack created when they thought about having Shinji live in the Ark.

Misato parked and strolled over. "Hi boys." she called.

Touji and Kensuke get a bit glassy eyed. Shinji shrugged at Hikari.

"How are things here?" Misato asked.

"Not so bad." Shinji said "Other then listening to Huffer complain."

"I can bet." she said.

"At least it's not Sunstreaker." Trailbreaker said "It'd be even worse given how vain he is."

"Same with Tracks." Grand Slam commented.

"Vain glitchheads." Raindance muttered.

Misato sat on the bonnet of her car and looked around. Other then Shinji, the other teenagers and the Autobots everyone had a haunted look in their eye. The Angel attacks, Decepticon attack, and now this zombie assault were scaring everyone. Especially the zombie attack. Misato shuttered thinking what else the Decepticons would think was a good idea from movies and TV shows to bring to life.

"The Autobots gone off to kick some... what's the term, Decepti-can?"

"Most of us." Trailbreaker said "They're using the chaos to get more energy."

"Right." she said. "How are things in the city?"

"A mess." Huffer said.

"It is a bit of a mess, yeah." she said, as she watched the trucks pass. "Say, I ran into one of those Decepticon jets earlier." she remarked.

"It was a great shot." Rain Dance said "Bluestreak would be impressed. Maybe even Sureshot."

"Thanks." she smiled. "Though if he's one of their elite, I'm surprised that they've not been defeated yet."

"That's a running joke in the Autobot army about the quality of the Seekers." Trailbreaker said.

Misato snickered. "I guess they must be true then."

"Though setting his cockpit on fire isn't really going to stop a Seeker." Rain Dance said.

"Just let me bask in my glory." Misato said.

"Now if she could take down Bludgeon that would be something." Trailbreaker said.

"Do I even want to know who that is?" Misato questioned.

"If you ever see a Con that turns into a tank and carries a sword pray to whatever you worship." Trailbreaker said deadly, serious.

"He nearly killed Jazz when they fought to see who was a better martial artist." Raindance said.

"The city still is a mess." Shinji said.

Misato nodded. "The best that Human science has achieved, rendered a hollow mockery." she said somberly

"Which wasn't designed with Decepticons or zombies in mind." Huffer said "Of course most cities designed with Decepticons in mind are still pretty trashed."

Misato rolled her eyes. "And there's still the Angels to worry about. I mean, Kami alone knows when the next one will arrive, or what it'll look like...."

"And that you two are not going to get a closer look." Hikari commented at Touji and Kensuke "And don't even think about trying to get close looks at Decepticons!"

"No fear, we're not makin' that mistake again. Are we, Kensuke?"

"No we aren't." Kensuke said getting that message loud and clear.

Misato nodded firmly, before phoning NERV again

"Yes?"

"Rits? How's things looking?"

"The zombies have been dealt with. The Sub Commander is being sent to talk to the JSSDF."

"Right, I'll let Shinji know."

"And The Commander isn't happy." Ritsuko said.

"Why's that?"

"The UN isn't happy NERV wasn't effective against zombies." Ritsuko said.

Misato nearly dropped her phone as she broke out in laughter.

Shinji wondered what was so funny. He also wondered what would be next. Tokyo-3 had proven to be anything but boring.

Though he wondered how many friends he'd be able to get. Or if any of them would be considered "normal" in anyway. Not that mattered to him at all.

-

Maccadam's Old Oil House was full like always. Autobot, Neutral, or Decepticon as long as you could play you got into the bar. And it was a good place to learn all kinds of gossip and rumors from Cybertronians with loose lips.

"Hey you hear that Ark and Nemesis crews are alive?" a blue Autobot said.

"Really?"

"Yeah and they're sending Starsaber to go get them." the blue Autobot said "Even having Galaxy Shuttle go with them."

"How...interesting." Sixknight said. He paid for his drinks and transformed into his starship mode. Starsaber, Optimus Prime and Megatron to be in the same place at once? It was perfect for him to prove his strength by defeating them all.

While the blue and white Transformer dreamed of glory, he didn't notice a starship following him.

-

In the Nemesis Hook worked a project he started since having to learn how humans worked so he could reanimate them. It was so a Decepticon could turn into a human as an alternate mode. However it had to be a small Decepticon that was about human size. Size changing technology and organic tissue didn't mesh. Well unless it was an alter transformer sized animal like some Dinosaurs but humans were the size of a regular Transformer.

It would make for a good disguise, though frankly a disgusting one, and Hook hoped it might be useful having yet another way to spy on the Autobots without them being noticed. The fact he would never be picked for it given he was necessary for the merger of Devastator would a bonus.


	6. Chapter 6

In Gendo Ikari's office the twisted man was having a meeting. Quite possibly the last meeting in the room if the UN put their general into place and he took the office for some reason.

"I managed to work out an increase in the budget." Gendo said "However there were strings attached to it."

That surprised the pair. Gendo usually got his way when it came to budget issues with the UN. Fuyutsuki had a feeling the strings lead to Gendo getting even more money and someone he could keep in the dark.

"What kind of strings?" Ritsuko asked.

"The UN is sending a general to take direct command of NERV." Gendo said "Effectively we are to be under the command of General Toru."

Gendo looked annoyed as he had hoped to avoid having to deal with UN oversight. But it seems given the UN never gave complete control to NERV to fight the Angels they were using it as a way to have someone watch over him. To Gendo it was a mild annoyance.

"I'll get all the special projects moved." Ritsuko said "Though not sure if that..."

"Yes I am aware of how you view Doctor Arkeville as a quack."

"Hypno Chips and planet smashing devices..." Ritsuko said "The man expected grant money for his sci fi ideas?"

"And yet that bionic arm he has works." Kouzou Fuyutsuki noted.

"Not that means his other outlandish ideas would." Ritsuko noted.

"Regardless of how you feel about him or Mr. Masters," Gendo said "They are useful." Ritsuko looked like she had eaten a lemon when Gendo mentioned Masters.

"You kept that idiot around?" Ritsuko said "He speaks in internet terms and frankly I doubt he ever had a good idea in his life. I wasn't able to stand having him work for me longer then a week."

"I assure he does have a good idea." Gendo said "Which if it works will allow us to use Transformers and their weapons."

"Ah yes the Headmaster project of his." Fuyutsuki said.

"Headmaster?" Ritsuko asked confused "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"It was not required for you to know until now." Gendo said.

Ritsuko said nothing inwardly seethed. First Wheeljack came along and now seemed to be replacing her on the Evangelions, and now Gendo was listening to lunatics like Arkeville and Masters over her. She was starting to feel like she was just a toy to Gendo. One that he was getting tired of as new toys had come along to get his attention.

It explained why MAGI was telling the Autobots all kinds of outlandish things about Gendo. Ritsuko was sure that MAGI was just three very advanced computers and not this memory crystal nonsense the Autobots talked about.

"The Autobots have won the bid to rebuild Tokyo-3." Fuyutsuki said "The fact they intend to rebuild it with more advanced technology and cheaper then most of the other bids was enough to get the UN to approve."

"And the fact the old men are still hiding from Megatron." Gendo said "Leaving the UN to it's own devices for the most part."

"You think they'll ever come out of it?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Unlikely given they used electronic communications." Ritsuko said "Which from what I heard makes it easy for Soundwave to find them."

"Just as long as Blaster doesn't find out." Gendo said "The Autobots finding out our secrets would be the end of us."

"You sure?" Ritsuko said "They seem like idealists then warriors."

"I know Optimus Prime's type." Gendo said "If something would ever truly make him angry then he will crush it."

And Gendo knew killing half the population of the Earth with Second Impact would be enough to get Optimus Prime to kill him. And Gendo wasn't going to let his plans be stopped because a robot with a hero complex found his actions disgusting and disturbing.

"The last bit of news is with the Autobots rebuilding the city someone nicknamed it Autobot City on the internet." Fuyutsuki said "It has caught on quite fast."

"I see." Gendo said.

"We'll have to watch to see if it catches on." Fuyutsuki said.

"Indeed we will." Gendo said "Fuyutsuki you are dismissed."

The elderly subcommander nodded and left. Ritsuko wondered how long she'd still have these "duties" before Gendo found someone else. In her mind a plan started to form. And given the Transformers being around it might actually work.

Gendo then surprised her by saying "Doctor with the increase in our budget I need you to head several projects. Using viable information from Masters project along the A10 improvements we can create something even better and far more controllable then the Dummy Project."

Gendo then showed her the Headmaster report. Ritsuko read it and found Doctor Arkeville was able to translate Masters internet worded rantings into something understandable. And it surprised her that Henry Masters had an interesting theory.

If it worked they could adapt it to the Evas and possibly gain more pilot choices. It was part of Gendo's plans he was annoyed he lacked. Even if it didn't work out that way, the Headmaster controled Transformers would make good back up for the Evas. And those Headmastered Transformers would be under their direct control.

Still Ritsuko saw one huge flaw. That was Masters not doing something completely stupid with this technology.

"And do you have Masters on a leash?" Ritsuko asked "He'd probably drive around a Transformer he'd put his Headmaster unit on and smash things just for laughs."

"He is being kept on a leash." Gendo said.

Ritsuko wondered if it was a literal one.

-

"What were you thinking oh mighty Megatron?" Starscream said "Those zombies would have been far better used in South America. We didn't have to go all the way to the Autobot's doorstep to use them."

"You're a fool Starscream." Megatron said "The eyes of this world are on Tokyo-3 and now they are scared of the dead around the world. Their fear will make this weapon work even better."

"Better? They know which of their crude weapons can destroy these zombies and that the Autobots can easily do it!" Starscream said "That's not an advantage!"

"But the Autobots can't be everywhere nor can they stock up the weapons that can destroy the zombies." Megatron said "It's amazing you created something so useful for a change."

"It was a weapon made for quickness and to generate fear." Starscream snapped "Concepts I am doubting you understand Megatron."

"You're a fool Starscream." Megatron snapped "I understand those concepts and have sent the Insecticons to strike while the iron is hot."

That comment gave Starscream an idea. The Evangelions were crude but a pet project of Wheeljack. While Starscream thought Wheeljack was a fool for being an Autobot, he always respected him as a scientist.

So using Bombshell's cerebro shells the Evangelions would be controllable and possibly useful as enforcers of his will. The only problem was how to keep Bombshell from controlling them.

Starscream resisted the urge to laugh and swear he had what he needed to take command of the Decepticons and destroy Megatron. Now was not the time, but soon he'd have a chance to gloat and rub it in the face of the Decepticons that thought he was a joke.

-

Shinji wondered what Rei was. The files on her had been erased. She was literally without a history. And it made the Autobots curious. It also made Shinji curious given the things he'd seen and experienced.

"Is she some kind of robot...no wait I know robots and they're more expressive then she is." Shinji thought.

Shinji looked at Rei sitting alone with a blank expression. He wondered what could cause her to be so emotionless. And he wondered what could get her to open up a bit. He doubted that talking about the Autobots would do it.

"Earth to Shinji." Touji said "You're starting to make me think yous love robots as much as Kensuke."

"Hey!" Kensuke snapped.

"I like to think I want to know my coworkers." Shinji said "She's a mystery. And I believe she's listening in on this conversation."

Rei gave them the briefest nods. Shinji was amazed she was responding to them at all.

"Wow she actually admitted to it." Touji commented.

"Rei you can join in the conversation." Shinji said "We don't bite."

"I am aware of that Pilot Ikari." Rei said.

Shinji noticed that was blunt and to the point. Shinji had discovered that Gendo had spent some time around her. Or she naturally a blunt person? Shinji knew he had to find out.

Touji didn't seem to notice and asked "So what do you think of the Transformers?"

"They are like nothing I could have imagined." Rei stated "They act in very human ways yet are completely alien."

"And even now there are people that still think it's a big hoax." Shinji commented "Or think that the whole war is a chance to get everyone to put their guard down and conquer the world."

"That's a lot more work then it'd be worth." Kensuke said.

"Some people will believe anything." Shinji said. He recalled how the Autobots had looked into an asteroid being the cause of Second Impact and it was a load of crap. And they raised the point of asking what First Impact was.

"And I wonder what will be next." Kensuke mused out loud "I mean giant alien robots, giant monsters, and even zombies."

"Powered mecha that is a lot closer to stuff out of anime then the Evangelions." Shinji said "Wheeljack is working on two of them. They're called Jetalone and Trident."

"Yet they will never be able to fight the Angels." Rei noted.

"Yeah but the Decepticons are a bigger threat." Shinji retorted.

Rei glared at Shinji.

"Sorry Rei but some monster movie rejects aren't as bad as an alien army that want to drain the world dry of resources." Shinji said.

"I won't underestimate the Angels Pilot Ikari." Rei stated coldly.

"Well they haven't exactly been that impressive so far." Shinji said "One got turned into roadkill, and I kicked the ass of the other one with the help of the Autobots. I just hope they all stay this easy to fight. I mean it could be a whole lot worse."

"Only after Wheeljack had upgraded Evangelion 01." Rei commented.

"Yeah Wheeljack does great work." Shinji said "Evangelion 00 should be done being upgraded as well."

"Though I hope you don't believe you can defeat my Evangelion like you did in that simulation." Rei said.

"Well it was easier then Devastator." Shinji commented "And Piranacon didn't even show up."

"Even just Snaptrap would have made that fight ugly." Hound's holoavatar said "He's not called the Butcher of the Bogs because it sounds impressive."

Rei noted that having friends like Sideswipe and Hound had built up Shinji's self esteem and his self worth. It had been built like a sky scraper and privately the commander had ordered her to keep a very close eye on Shinji. Even closer an eye then on Shinji's Autobot friends.

It was then things got dark as something blotted out the sun.

"It was supposed to be sunny today." Touji grumbled.

"That's not a cloud." Hound said "It's the Insecticons!" Then came the bolts of lightning from the swarm striking things.

A red Honda S2000 came barreling to their position. It stopped right in front of Rei and Shinji.

"Get in!" Windcharger yelled. The pilots leaped into the car.

A Jeep Wranger came around for Touji and Kensuke. The two boys got into Hound as quickly as they could.

The swarm flew into Tokyo-3 and started eating the buildings. One ate a human and shuddered.

"How did they taste taste?" Shrapnel asked.

"Like slag." Kickback said "I'm never doing that again."

"Their produce isn't so bad." Bombshell said.

"Oh the aftertaste" Kickback moaned.

"Just shut the slag up." a robotic ladybug yelled.

-

There was a burst of blue light and a starship came out of it. The massive white ship hovered among the debris that made up the Oort Cloud of the Solar System.

"So this is the system the Ark and Nemesis were lost in." Blacker said.

"Plenty of places for them to end up." Silverbolt noted.

"Signs of a high energy substance on one of the moons." Braver said "With a nitrogen and oxygen rich atmosphere."

"Which moon and of which planet?" Starsaber asked.

"One of the moons of that planet the size of Cybertron." Laser said.

"Which planet is that?" Air Raid asked.

"It's the one with really big ring around it." Laser replied.

"That looks like a good spot to start." Starsaber said "Galaxy Shuttle take us there."

"Got it." Galaxy Shuttle said.

The Autobots passed several Earth space probes and picked up transmissions from Earth.

"The Junkions would love this stuff." Braver said.

"And make them even harder to understand." Slingshot said "I mean is the slag they spew really anything but gibberish?"

Braver shrugged. Even he couldn't make sense of the Junkion's unique use of random radio and video programs that had reached Junk. Frankly he wasn't sure anyone could.

-

The Geo Front was controlled chaos as the Evangelions were prepared. The newly put in charge General Kenji Toru wondered what it was the that made Tokyo-3 the center for insanity.

Ritsuko looked over Eva 00. It had been upgraded using what she had learned from Wheeljack. The melee weapon that the Autobots had been given an for Evangelion 00 was an electron scimitar. Ritsuko and the techs already were studying the sword which was easier then the solitarium axe that Eva 01 had.

Instead of Angels Eva 00 would be called to battle against the Decepticons. The Insecticons seemed to think the city was the all you can eat buffet.

Ritsuko marveled at the ability of energon to solve the power problem of the Evangelions. It was something the creators of the Evangelions would have killed to have when they first created the Evas. She then wondered if the Transformers crashed and awakened in say 1984 if Second Impact would have even happened.

Wheeljack looked over Eva 00. The armor plating wasn't quite to Cybertronian standards but it was something humans could mass produce. It was also far superior to what the Evangelions had before.

Then Wheeljack sees something he never expected to see. Rei and Gendo both appearing animated while talking to each other. The Autobot scientist wondered if Rei was the only person on Earth that Gendo cared about.

Shinji had a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Shinji asked Hound. Hound simply nodded.

The two turned and saw Misato had a dumbfound expression on her face. That she was as surprised as they were told them everything they needed to know about how well known the closeness of Rei and Gendo was.

Shinji then saw the melee weapons for the the Evangelions being lifted by Windcharger with his magnetic powers. Ritsuko and the others were closely taking notes as this was yet another new ability they hadn't seen the Transformers do before. It was a massive file as NERV learned more about the Transformers every day.

Shinji entered the Entry Plug and wished he had a huge can of robotic bug spray. Or a really big fly swatter that could have an electric current run through it.

"You ready for this Rei?" Shinji asked as their Evangelions were powered up.

"Of course Pilot Ikari." Rei replied.

"You two are to meet up with the Dinobots and help them fight the Insecticons." Misato ordered coming up on the monitor in the Evas.

Shinji was sure that it wounded his father's ego that the Evangelions had to be on under someone else's authority. Grimlock from what Shinji knew would take command of the unit. The Dinobot leader lead from the front and didn't put up with any back talk.

"The two of you along with the Dinobots are to be the hammer to is used to deal with the Insecticons." Misato said.

"From what I've heard of the Dinobots hammer is what they do best." Shinji commented.

The Evas rocketed to the surface and Shinji got to see first hand the devastation the Insecticons had done. The buildings looked like Swiss cheese and there was little to suggest there had even been cars in Tokyo-03.

Then the Insecticons came at the Evangelions at great speed. Rei and Shinji powered up their AT fields and the Insecticons slammed into it like it was their windshield.

Back in the hanger bay Wheeljack asked "Do the AT Fields cover underneath the Evangelions?"

Before Ritsuko could answer him Insecticons burst out of the ground. Before Rei and Shinji knew what happened, they were swarmed. The Insecticons helped themselves to the Evas to see how they tasted. Shinji screamed as he knew what being eaten alive by killer ants had to feel like as the Insecticons chewed through the armor plating covering the Eva.

"Time to kill them." Raptor said. The red and silver female Insecticon looked forward to killing the allies of the Autobots.

"Good." Buzzclaw said. The mantis alt formed Insecticon had heard one of the humans was friends with Sideswipe. Buzzclaw and Sideswipe had battled several times in the past and the Insecticon bore a grudge against him. Perhaps this would hurt the Autobot Warrior.

It was then a horrific amount of noise was heard. The ground started to shake and bursts of fire hit the Insecticons and melted down large numbers of the swarm. Shinji managed to pull himself together enough to use his hands to crush the Insecticons on his body.

Rei used her electron scimitar to fry the Insecticons. The clones were even less durable then the Evangelions and fried easily. The clones were made from scrap and other objects and molded by the Insecticons powers after all.

Slag took great pleasure in melting down every Insecticon he could. Though he doubted any of the Kickbacks, Bombshells or Shrapnels were the real deal. He still hoped one of them was the original for him to destroy.

Snarl just waded into the ocean of Insecticon clones and punched, stabbed, and blasted them. It was times like these he didn't feel pissed or hostile and almost felt happy. Close to even peaceful if Snarl was honest with himself.

"Glad you could make it." Swoop said as he cut off one of Buzzclaw's arms with his heat sword.

"You'll pay for that Autobot!" Buzzclaw snarled.

"Send me a bill." Swoop joked as he kicked Buzzclaw in the face.

Anything Buzzclaw would have said was stopped by Eva 01 stepping on the Insecticon. Shinji wished he had a giant shoe he could use for that. It would feel like the correct thing to use on a giant insect. Shinji used the palm of his hand to crush Insecticon clones. He flattened them to the road and enjoyed hearing them break.

Raptor showed the better part of valor now that the Dinobots were there. This was a group that could fight anything short of the Terrorcons or Predacons and have a reasonable chance of survival. She was just one Insecticon and even with clone cannon folder she'd rather not fight them.

On her way out of the city she saw Kickback, Shrapnel, and Bombshell had the same idea.

"Where is Buzzclaw Buzzclaw?" Shrapnel asked.

"He got crushed by that transorganic one of the humans drives." Raptor replied "We can recover him later. Not like the humans know how hard we are to kill. The Autobots aren't stupid enough to tell them that."

"I won't be sure of that." Kickback muttered "They're pretty trusting."

"Speaking from personal experience?" Raptor asked. Kickback nodded.

-

After the battle Grapple looked over his plans to rebuild the city and revised them. He then shook his head. This masterpiece would likely be destroyed in a week by an Angel or the Decepticons. It depressed the master builder. He wanted one of his works to not get blown to bits.

Hauler who was now cherry red and with Cybertronian truck with a large crane boom and towing cable alt form found his friend and hoped Hoist could get him out this black mood. The self expressionist and body modification loving Autobot felt like he was fighting a losing battle every time he tried to help Grapple with his feelings.

The fellow builder came into Grapple's quarters a click later and knew he needed to cheer up Grapple.

"Come on Grapple the humans need us to make their city." Hoist said "Its their first chance to see the sort of wonders you can make."

"I know." Grapple said in a weary tone "But I want it to be around long enough for them to get comfortable in it."

"That retractable thing they have for the city can help with that." Hauler said "It's an interesting idea surprised we never used it."

"I can't think of everything." Grapple admitted "Though not sure how well having buildings go into the ground would work with Frenzy and Rumble around to cause a cave in."

"Well at least we have a mostly blank canvas to work with." Hoist said "And local industry willing to work with us to help mass produce whatever alloys we need for this."

"They just want to learn how to make those alloys." Hauler commented.

"True but we have to take what we can get." Hoist replied "Still they're calling Tokyo 3 Autobot City on the internet and we should give them something worthy of that name."

Grapple nodded and felt his spirits lift a bit. He then to work on his revised plans. If this place was to be called Autobot City then he had but in small scale some of the lost monuments of Cybertron among other touches.

Hauler looked at Hoist with a look of amazement. He just couldn't believe how easy Hoist made it look to get Grapple working and not moping. Hauler remembered the time Grapple was in a bad mood for a whole stellar cycle. That was not fun.

Hoist didn't notice has he planned how to improve the sewer system of the city.

Then Grapple got an idea.

"Say how hard would it be to turn the Geo Front into one of us?" Grapple asked.

"I'm sure we can ask Wheeljack." Hauler said. Grapple and Hoist nodded. That sort of massive scale and slightly crazy idea was something he'd have come up with when he saw the Geo Front.

Grapple had found out several times Wheeljack had come up with the same idea he had. It didn't bother him, given having the same ideas as Wheeljack made you either a genius or insane. Grapple thought of himself on the genius side.

"I'm more amazed he'd managed to find a girlfriend on Earth."Hauler commented "She has to be crazy to want Wheeljack."

"I find it interesting how little humanity knows about their MAGI systems."Hoist said "And that the one in Tokyo-3 seems more advanced then the others."

"You know Wheeljack is building a body for her in his lab right?" Grapple said as he planned out the solar energy collection tower that would be placed next to the Ark.

"One? I thought he'd need to make three." Hauler commented.

"Seems the minds have merged into one." Hoist said "Very much like Superion is for the Aerialbots."

"Makes sense given they were all aspects of one mind to start with." Grapple stated "Or at least their base was one mind."

"I wonder what Commander Gendo Ikari did to piss her off." Hauler mused "Given she hates him."

"I doubt I'll be surprised."Hoist said "Gendo Ikari acts like a Decepticon and probably would fit right in if he had one of our bodies."

"And Shinji is completely different." Hauler said "Nice guy from what I've seen of him."

"Well at least he's less weird then that Kensuke kid." Hoist noted and then added "We need to make him a small guest quarters don't we?"

"We might as well make him a small house around the Ark." Grapple said "With a large basement to serve as another safety shelter."

"Might as well put some rooms for his friends while we're at it." Hauler said "Shinji, the kid Grand Slam scared, and that one girl."

"And that other pilot." Hoist said "Just in case."

"Good idea." Grapple said.

"Wheeljack wants me to make a shotgun that fires frozen CO2 for Eva 00." Hauler said changing the subject.

"From what I've seen of the Evangelions their weapons weren't worth slag against the Angels let alone the Decepticons." Hoist commented.

"Let's hope our new weapons for them will work better." Hauler said.

Little did they know their weapons would soon be put to the test...


	7. Chapter 7

Shinji and Rei watched the city rise. The parts that hadn't been completely trashed by zombies or the Insecticon feeding frenzy at least.

"It is... alarming to observe how effective they are." Rei said quietly.

"See this is why I said the Decepticons are worse then the Angels." Shinji commented. Shinji felt justified in that comment.

Rei said nothing, her blood-red eyes just focusing on the destruction aid out before her. Everything she had been told and prepared for wasn't enough. The Transformers were never in Gendo's plans for even the craziest things to happen.

"Perhaps..." she said, not sure how to put her words.

"Rei how well do you know the Commander?" Shinji asked. So far seemed the closest to him. Though Shinji doubted Gendo confided much to her.

"He has been my guardian for as long as I can remember." she said quietly. She seemed to be wrestling with something she couldn't find words to express.

"Why?" Shinji said "Why did he raise you and have nothing to do with me?"

"I do not know." she replied "My memories of that time are.... clouded."

"And your files are all erased." Shinji said "And whoever did it made it so the Autobots couldn't even recover the files from the computer systems." That meant Gendo to Shinji. He just wondered what would drive him to those paranoid lengths to make sure no one got information on Rei.

She shrugged.

"Perhaps it is for the best." she said.

-

Keele knew he had a problem. The 5th Child had a hollow eyed expression. Since the Ark hit the 3rd Angel Kaworu had been quiet and almost as robotic as the first child. It was like it had scared him even worse then SEELE had been by Megatron.

Among Kaworu's things there was a list of names on a piece of paper. Primus, Unicron, Dark Nova, the Vok, and the Quintessons. While these had no meaning for the head of SEELE, they seemed to be important to Tabris.

It gave Keele a headache. Things used to be so simple before the Transformers showed up. The only real concern was Gendo Ikari and his attempts to bend HIP to his means. Now there were those that no long saw taking humanity to the next level as important. And those that thought becoming data and put into machine bodies or putting human brains in robotic bodies like the Transformers was the way to go.

Proof of alien life changed a lot of things. That faster then light travel was possible had gotten many scientists thinking of ways to get it to work. In all humanity had hope for the future. And after the Decepticons actually created zombies there was an explosion of zombie survival guides coming out.

A car horn honked from the direction of the road. Shinji looked to see if it was one of his friends. It was, as it turned out, with Misato sitting on the hood like a model in a car advert. Shinji was starting to wonder if Gendo had a plan of a swimsuit calendar to make money for NERV given Misato and several other women were extremely attractive.

"You know you couldn't sit on Sunstreaker like that right?" Cliffjumper commented "He'd say you were ruining his finish."

"So, he wouldn't all eyes drawn towards him by a beautiful woman like me lounging on his hood?" Misato asked, choking back a derisive snort.

"Tracks and Sunsteaker are...you know that human myth of Adonis?" Cliffjumper asked "They're as vain as he was."

"I see." she said, and snorted. "They sound like real narcissists."

"They are." Cliffjumper said "Oh Primus are they are pain in the tailpipe to deal with."

"Pah. They obviously don't know what they're missing out on." Misato said, as she climbed off his hood and walked over to the two Children.

"I'm surprised there was a Camero in Tokyo-03." Shinji said looking at Cliffjumper.

"Wheeljack almost picked being a car they only made ten or eleven of." Cliffjumper said "And there's two left that survived Second Impact."

"That really won't be a good disguise." Rei commented.

"Exactly." Cliffjumper replied "Still it beats walking."

"Well, we'd better head back. Rits is coming over tonight." Misato said.

"So is Wheeljack considered a four letter word this evening?" Shinji asked. It was no secret that while Doctor Akagi had to deal with Wheeljack on a daily basis she honestly didn't like him very much.

"Yes." Misato nodded.

"Hey how do you think we feel that Wheeljack got a girlfriend?" Cliffjumper asked.

"He's become absolutely insufferable, right?"

"No more that we didn't think any femme in the universe would want him."

"Ah, right.." Misato said, as they went to head back.

"So where do I need to drop you off at?" Cliffjumper asked Rei.

She stated the address of the apartment she was assigned to. The look on Misato's face made it clear that wasn't where she'd place one of the pilots. Or anyone else for that matter.

"Isn't that considered the bad part of town?" Shinji asked.

Misato frowned. "To say the least. All that area was supposed to have been condemned after Hakone was devastated in Second Impact..."

"So having it leveled and letting Grapple do what he wants with it won't be minded by anyone?" Cliffjumper commented. The Autobot builder frankly the area to be an eyesore and was looking for an excuse to put something worthwhile up in that area.

"Definitely." Misato said. "It's almost hard to believe that only a few years ago, this was one of the biggest manufacturing centres of Japan..."

"And it will be again." Cliffjumper said "Grapple needs better grade materials then are currently available...and we're willing to trade to show how to make better alloys."

Misato blinked, then smiled. "I'm sure that the city council will be delighted to hear that." They noted that she chose her words carefully.

"Do you have to stay there Rei?" Shinji asked "I mean even Kensuke's tent outside the Ark would be better."

"It is sufficient to my needs." she said.

"So would Kensuke's tent." Shinji retorted.

Rei said nothing to this. The silence, however, spoke volumes to the others. It made Cliffjumper wonder what in Primus's name was wrong with Gendo Ikari to treat the people that were supposed to save the world by themselves if Autobots hadn't shown up like they were slag. And it pissed him off.

Now if given a chance Cliffjumper would shoot Gendo Ikari with his rifle like he would Megatron.

Misato's eye twitched. Shinj knew that wasn't a good sign. The last time she saw Misato do that was when he and Sideswipe drove across the city for a late night joy ride. Of course out running Section 2 and making complete fools of them didn't help things.

"You're going to make Rei one of our room mates aren't you?" Shinji asked.

Misato nodded grimly as they pulled up outside the address Rei had said. To describe the apartment complex as rundown was to understate it criminally.

"Empties aren't going to show up, or Decepticon Harvesters right?" Cliffjumper asked. The area looked like the bad part of Polyhex to him.

"It looks like something out of Silent Hill..." Misato muttered, as Rei disembarked.

"You know I'm starting to wonder if the Commander really cares about her." Shinji said when Rei was out of ear shot.

Misato nodded, before she suddenly remembered. "Oh Damn.... I forgot to give this to Rei earlier..." she said.

"We'll do it later." Shinji said.

"It's her new Security card..." she countered. "She needs it to get to headquarters."

"Well she could always ride in an Autobot." Shinji joked.

Misato couldn't help but smile at that. The Autobots were actually starting to be considered a normal sight at the Geo Front.

"Yeah MAGI likes us." Cliffjumper said.

"And doesn't like Commander Ikari." Misato noted.

"It's like she's an ex-girlfriend." Shinji said.

Misato looked out the window for a moment. "Shinji, could you go and give this to Rei? I need a moment to think."

Shinji nodded and wondered if he needed to ask Misato for a gun. Or a flamethrower.

"Rits said she's in Apartment 402...." Misato told him, as she handed over the card to him.

"Got it." Shinji said.

She nodded, and gave him a bit of a smile.

Shinji got out of the camero and keep his guard up and looked like expected to be attacked by zombies. Which given the Decepticons had reanimated the recently dead before made it possible. For a moment Shinji wondered what else the Transformers would bring to life from human fiction.

It all seemed fairly quiet, though. The elevators in the shabby apartment complex were not working though. Shinji went up the stairs. The stairwell was filled with rubbish, as were the corridors. The smell was worse then Misato's apartment did when he first went to it and Shinji thought that it'd take going to the city dump to top that.

"Disgusting." Shinji said out loud as he made his way to Rei's apartment.

The area around Apartment 402 seemed to be a little cleaner by comparison, though not by much.

The doorbell didn't work either. Shinji knocked on the door and it creaked open. Shinji didn't like how that door sounded. Then there was a rusty creak, a crunch, and the top hinge broke off and showered him with rust.

"Rei your door fell off." Shinji said into the darkness.

She wasn't in the room. And what a depressing room it was. Even Shinji thought it was depressing and empty. Shinji then noticed a pair of glasses and wondered what they were doing there.

The glasses were broken and the lenses were slightly melted, but the orange tint was unmistakeable.

"What happened to these?" Shinji pondered.

Then, he noticed Rei come in, from out the corner of his eye.

"Oh hey Rei Misato wanted to make sure you got your...card." Shinji said as he noticed Rei had just gotten out of the shower.

Rei seemed unaware of her state of dress, as she walked over. "Thank you, Pilot Ikari." she said, plucking it from his fingers.

Shinji in a daze tried to move away and fell on top of Rei. Rei stared up at him unblinkingly.

"Umm oh god." Shinji said and found himself gripping something very soft. He doubted this was end well.

"Pilot Ikari." she said blandly. "Your hand appears to be on my chest."

"Ummm yeah...umm sorry." Shinji said as he pulled his hand away.

"Was there anything else you required?" she asked. Shinji found her lack of reaction really weird. Weirder then alien robots from outer space level weird.

"Ummm no..." Shinji said "Got to go. Sorry about the door."

She nodded as she stood up.

Shinji exited the apartment in a daze and when he got to Cliffjumper had a huge blush on his face.

"Something the matter, Shinji?" Misato asked in concern.

"I...I..." Shinji said "I managed to..."

"To what?" Misato asked.

"... cop a... feel on REI!" Shinji blurted out. "But it was, uh, weird."

"AND I DIDN'T MEAN TO! Cop a feel, I mean!"

Misato's eyebrow rose so high it nearly came off her head. "Oh really now?"

"Yeah I caught her after she took a shower." Shinji said as he entered the camero "She has no modesty."

Cliffjumper was starting to think using Vector Sigma or the Matrix or other life giving devices was a gift from Primus for the Transformers. Having to deal with sexuality like humans have would have been insane.

"And I do not look forward to when Hikari finds out about this." Shinji said.

Misato wanted to make a teasing comment, but warning bells were ringing loudly in her mind. She looked up at the building with a concerned frown. She also was starting to think Gendo Ikari was a lousy guardian as well as a deadbeat dad.

"She didn't even react like a normal teenage girl would...not that I'd know what that would be." Shinji said "Other then it won't be as calmly."

Misato really did not like the sound of this, and her face showed it. Cliffjumper wondered how he was going to explain all this to Hound.

"If I did that to Hikari I think I'd be going to the hospital...with one of her shoes in my rear." Shinji said "And then back again after Touji got his hands on me."

Misato looked very unhappy at this. "Who the hell put her here then? I'll give them a piece of my mind..."

"And she has a melted pair of the Commander's glasses as the only decorative item in her apartment." Shinji noted.

Misato's eyes narrowed. "C'mon Shinji, let's go before I end up losing my composure in front of you."

"And you shoot someone." Shinji commented.

"That too.'' she admitted, her fist clenched.

Cliffjumper floored it and drove to the apartment. He did not want to be there when this slag went down.

Misato took many calming breaths and just barely got her temper under control. Shinji prayed he won't be called in by Misato to help her bury a body. Even if it was Gendo's body.

"I'm sorry, Shinji..." she said, once she'd cooled off a bit. Her voice was soft, and quiet.

Shinji wasn't sure what to do.

She climbed out of Cliffjumper, and looked up at the stars.

"See that peaceful star far,far away?" Shinji said after getting out of Cliffjumper.

Misato looked along his arm towards where he was pointing. "I see it."

"That's where Cybertron is." Shinji said.

"Really?" she asked, shading her eyes and looking at the distant star.

"That's what Wheeljack told me." Shinji said.

-

"Any sign of the Ark or Nemesis on this island?" Braver asked Highbeam. Titan only had various islands with more or less self contained populations. Though one or two had cities that the Autobots would compare to the lost city of Venice of Earth had they knew of it.

"All I've found so far is a group of liars using a statue with movable arms pretending it's their god." Highbeam said.

"You know Starsaber will want to destroy that thing himself right?" Braver said.

"Because he can't stand false worship or liars?" Highbeam asked.

"Liars." Braver said "And who knows after all legends tell of their being a lot of gods caught in an epic war with Dark God legions lead by Unicron so maybe someone else's deity or deities was there too."

"There are also sects that say Primus is made of energon and starlight." Highbeam noted.

"Well looks like a local rebellion just removed the priests from power." Braver commented"Think we should say hello?"

"Let's stop by later." Highbeam said "Given this island has the highest amount of energy crystals for this side of the planet."

-

In a dark alley located in Iacon a green and yellow robot looked nervous. Triton was a spy for the Decepticons. He'd gone undercover and joined the Autobots to gather data. All he had to do was alter his colors and change his alt form.

Still he wanted to avoid being seen with known Decepticons.

"Do you have the information?" Triton suddenly heard behind him.

Triton was shocked. It was his "boss" so to speak. Banzai-tron himself. He was rumored to be able to make limbs shatter due to a martial art he knew. Being head of Decepticon Intelligence also made him deadly in several other ways.

"Yes...sure boss." Triton said handing Banzai-tron a disk with the location Starsaber and his crew had gone.

"Good." Banzai-tron said.

"It was a cause for celebration as well." Triton said "Everyone in Iacon has heard that they're still alive."

"Oh I know." Banzai-tron said "Overcharged Autobots can't keep a secret. Still it's better to have this then just the word of drunken bots."

-

Kensuke was speechless. The building next to the Ark and the Solar Energy Collector might have been considered small by Grapple but it was really big by Kensuke's standards. Hikari and Touji were as shocked as Kensuke. Hikari couldn't believe Kensuke's stalkerish behavior would get him anything good. Yet it had gotten them what looked like a one story apartment complex with a huge basement.

"This is amazing." Touji managed to say.

"And you wanted to punch Shinji." Kensuke said. Touji grumbled. So he was being an idiot. It didn't need to be brought up again. Or the fact Shinji has a tank in his pants pocket.

"We need to do something nice for Shinji and whoever built this." Hikari said in a tone that meant they were going to do it.

The rooms inside the complex were large and comfortable. The die cast construction of the base made it nearly as tough as the Ark itself. The group was in the living room of Kensuke's room and relaxing on a huge sofa that they weren't quite sure what was built into it.

They had found built in drawers, parts that folded down for drink holders, and a built in computer with a flat screen monitor a keyboard that was held in the same place as one of the fold down drink holders. Kensuke dubbed it the Bond sofa. Touji was looking to see if a mini fridge was in it somehow.

Hikari wondered if any of the press would be getting a building like this. They now camped out in the area and she was sure her face as well as Touji and Kensuke were known around the world. She wondered if Shinji was really even known for having a giant robot to fight Angels given he was the first person to make contact with alien life.

Well at least that the aliens had been seen, and were sticking around. Hikari found it funny how sightings of 'flying saucers" had dropped dramatically. Then again aliens were now science fact. Or the Transformers scared the shit out of the various alien races that messed with the Earth for various reasons.

Hikari couldn't blame them if the war between the Autobots and Decepticons was what drove them off. That civil war brutal. Thankfully the Transformers seemed to go out of their way to avoid using nuclear weapons of any kind. Though given some of the odder weapons the Transformers used it might be they that N2 mines or other nuclear weapons weren't creative enough for them.

Touji raised his arm in triumph as he did find a mini fridge inside the sofa.

-

The Nemesis was slowly being transformed from a downed starship into a base of operations worthy of the Decepticons. The flooded cities around the globe made for usable raw materials. Especially after the Constructicon Mixmaster broke down the materials and turned them into superior ones in his mixer.

Plus there was the combiner sized lance the Seacons found literally laying around for the taking.

"Hey is something moving?" Thundercracker asked Skywarp.

"We're under water." Skywarp replied "And humans avoid this place. And the Autobots don't have the cast iron manifolds to be snooping around here."

Thundercracker had to admit Skywarp had a point. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling something was watching them.


	8. Chapter 8

Asuka Soryu was considered a force of nature. A psychologist could come up with a lot of things wrong with the Evangelion Pilot and how when put under stress she'd shatter like glass a Transformer fell through it.

But right now she was storming through NERV Germany as she had found out a huge insult to her. Her Evangelion was being used a test bed for the Autobot technology NERV had gained. And the worst part was Asuka could imagine the 3rd Child being so smug about the fact his Eva was better then hers and and how he made first contact with aliens.

Asuka was also pissed that she was not used for the promotional material that was used before the UN. She was a real Eva pilot and the 3rd Child needed an army of overgrown toys to fight an Angel.

Kaji watched Asuka in a middle of a bad mood and wondered what he was going to do. Gendo's power base had diminished but the triple agent was sure that Gendo Ikari was like a wounded animal and worst when cornered.

SEELE was in disarray and trying to establish alternate ways of meeting. There was also the rumors of one or two of them were now dead. Of course it could have just been them going even deeper into hiding in the chaos.

The JSSDF seemed the one with the strongest hand to Kaji. They still had control of the fight with the Angels, and the Evangelions had been proven to be great against Angels. Against Decepticons was another story entirely.

Of course it was Eva 01 against a single Angel. The spy for a moment wondered how Misato was talking all of this and felt a pang of guilt. Misato had no idea the hot bed of cloak and dagger activities that the Geo Front was. It was like the wet dream of those that thought of groups controlling humanity and were behind Second Impact.

Of humanity was the key point. SEELE was caught off guard by the arrival of the Transformers and Kaji didn't even want to think about what they'd do to make their dreams come true. Or how whatever Evas they had would be ungraded with Transformers tech.

But Kaji actually had hope for the future now. From what he had seen humanity had gained untainted allies in the Autobots. Yet it wasn't without a cost given the Decepticons were on Earth as well.

Kaji watched as Eva 02 was being set up to run off Energon and wondered what the creators of the Evangelions would have done to get their hands on that fuel source. The end of the batteries and power cords of for the Evangelions was something they'd have wanted.

The spear made for the Evangelion 02 was no where as fancy as the melee Eva 00 and Eva 01 had gotten. The scientists put a prong knife on the end of a pole to make a spear. Actually Kaji wondered why that wasn't the standard weapon. It wasn't rocket science or even that complex.

Now the secret agent wondered what was going to happen when Adam had to be transported. It wasn't going to be easy that was for sure.

-

"Rits who the hell put Rei in that hell hole?" Misato asked over dinner.

Ritsuko was a bit surprised to be asked that over dinner. Though she had a feeling if Misato ever found out where Rei lived it this would happen. Her friend was a mother bear and seemed to collect strays and orphans.

"The Commander felt it was good enough." Ritsuko said.

Misato muttered comments about the Commander's family and farm animals. Shinji felt the urge to get Sideswipe to prank his father rising. Especially to see if they could give him a bikini wax without the wax.

"Well I don't think it's good enough." Misato said "And I'm ordering her to come to this apartment."

"Of course." Ritsuko said. While Gendo won't like it, pointing out that General Toru was a family man and would take a closer look into things they'd rather not have him look at might keep Gendo from doing something drastic. And likely ending up crushed by an Autobot for doing it.

The look Shinji had on his face however did hurt when he asked "Was that were I'd have been sent if Misato didn't take me in?"

"If she didn't we would." Ritsuko heard. She turned and saw what looked a lot like Shia LaBeouf.

"Hey Bumblebee." Shinji said.

"Think this is me?" Bumblebee asked.

"I think it works." Shinji replied.

The Autobot spy smiled at Shinji and sat down at the table across from Ritsuko. Ritsuko found the holoforms the Autobots used to interact with people on a more personal level scary. Any new face she met could be a Transformer. And there was what MAGI would do when it...she got one to use. Or kind of things she'd do with Wheeljack and the input of that prankster Sideswipe.

"Did I do something wrong?" Bumblebee asked "Doctor Akagi looks kind of annoyed for some reason."

Shinji shrugged. He had no idea what caused that.

"So have any of you seen Newstown?" Bumblebee asked.

"Newstown?" Misato asked.

"Yeah it's all the motor homes and trailers that have been set up by the major news networks around the Ark." Bumblebee said "We have to keep Huffer, Gears, and the Dinobots away from them."

Ritsuko winced thinking about those seven Autobots. Gendo actually had plans to kill Grimlock in place. Especially if the Dinobot commander took over as leader of the Autobots. Ritsuko wasn't sure nuking the Ark with N2 mines until there was nothing left was the best plan but it would probably work.

"Isn't Grimlock the one that said he'd never follow the Commander's orders?" Misato asked.

"Yes that's Grimlock." Shinji said "The only reason he's an Autobot is because as much as he dislikes Optimus Prime and the Autobot way he hates Megatron more."

"And he barely can stand us half the time." Bumblebee commented.

"The more I learn about the Transformers the more human and alien they become at the same time." Ritsuko said "And I never know what I'll learn next."

"You mean like the fact they have ninjas?" Shinji stated.

Ritsuko looked at Shinji like he was pulling her leg. Given one of his best friends was Sideswipe she wouldn't put it past him to be doing so.

"Seriously Jazz is a ninja." Shinji said. Bumblebee nodded.

"And for Cybertron's sake don't ever compare Bludgeon to that Goku character because they both are into martial arts and have orange." Bumblebee said "The Con cuts down people like they're made of tin foil. Thankfully he can't blow up planets on his own. The Cons like that idea enough as is."

"They consider blowing up a planet a good idea?" Misato said alarmed.

"When it doubt, blow the planet up is their motto." Bumblebee said "Other then with Cybertron."

Ritsuko wondered how Gendo was going to take that bit of news.

"Can we please leave the Decepticons out of the dinner conversation?" Misato asked.

"So..."Bumblebee said "You tell Touji and Kensuke about getting to second base with Rei? And did I get that slang right?"

Shinji turned red and slumped his head on the table. He didn't want to talk about this. He was sure the whole world would learn about it at this rate. And Shinji knew he'd need to hide behind Grand Slam to maybe keep Hikari for chewing him out over the whole thing.

That Misato broke out laughing wasn't helping.

Bumblebee however just looked a bit confused about the whole thing. Then again their relationships were based off friendship and companionship. They used devices to create new Transformers so didn't reproduce like organic beings. Shinji at the moment envied that.

"I think you got your phrases mixed up..." Misato said, putting her hand on Ritsuko's shoulder.

"No I think I was referring to the right thing unless he got further along the bases." Bumbleebee commented.

"No I did not get any further then touching Rei's breast." Shinji said.

Ritsuko looked shocked that Shinji did that. He seemed to shy to do that even with Rei and the fact his friends were giant robots.

"It was an accident." Shinji snapped. He got up and hoped dinner would keep them from commenting on this. He just wanted to get beyond this. It wasn't like Rei really minded. Which Shinji was sure would freak out Hikari.

Thankfully the dropped the matter during dinner. Bumbleebee didn't need to eat but stayed to watch Pen Pen eat.

-

"What the?" Ironhide said as he saw a blue octahedron on a screen. It flying towards Tokyo-3. Ironhide wondered if other geometric shapes where going to attack then.

"What in Primus's name is that thing?" Tracks exclaimed when he glanced over Ironhide's shoulder.

"Trouble." Optimus Prime said surprising Tracks and Ironhide.

"You think that's an Angel or something the Cons made?" Ironhide asked.

"Does it really matter?" Tracks asked.

"MAGI has informed me that is the 5th Angel." Optimus Prime said.

"You know Elita One might get jealous." Ironhide joked.

"I can assume you old friend I am not going to steal girlfriends from Wheeljack." Optimus Prime said playing along.

"I'm more worried Wheeljack can actually get a girlfriend then anything else." Tracks commented.

"While I'm worried what that thing will do." Ironhide said looking at the monitor "And why NERV keeps getting their numbers off. Second Impact, and calling that the 5th Angel with only three having shown up. How can they save the world when they can't even count right."

"It's only off if we don't know what 1st Impact and the first two angels are not." Optimus Prime said.

"They sure aren't talking about them." Ironhide commented "And their silence on those doesn't sit right with me."

-

Shinji was happy that after dinner he was needed to fight another Angel. He really didn't want to listen to Doctor Akagi hear even more about his...incident... with Rei. And Shinji realized he had an easier time understanding the Transformers then Rei or girls in general.

Shinji then saw Rei and realized that Hikari was the only normal person he interacted with. Kensuke was a Transformer stalker, Touji was...well Touji, Rei was more robotic then his Autobot friends, and of course most of his friends were from a hollow Saturn sized metal planet.

Shinji had to smile remembering how most scientists took being told Cybertron was a metal world the size of Saturn. Something that physically should have turned into a black hole from the sheer mass of it. Finding out it was hollow and filled with tunnels and supposedly had more mythological items then the basement of Camelot had helped a little bit.

"Well Rei it's time to send that art project reject to the trash can." Shinji said feeling Rei won't bring up the incident.

"I won't underestimate that Angel, Pilot Ikari," Rei stated.

"You going to kiss your girlfriend or not?" Sideswipe said as his holoavatar appeared behind them.

Shinji turned and snapped "She's not my girlfriend!"

Rei felt confused though the only visible sign of that was her cocking her head sideways. Was she already Shinji's boyfriend for what happened? And wasn't this the holoavatar of Shinji's best friend? Of course she'd heard people call Shinji to be Misato's boytoy behind the Captain's back.

She would have to investigate this. Possibly discuss this with the class rep given she was around Shinji and the only women not romantically linked with him.

For some reason Shinji had a chill go down his spine. He wondered what the Decepticons were up to this time. After all nothing else could be that bad for him. Boy was Shinji wrong.

His fears set aside Shinji got ready for battle. Though he wondered what this Angel could do. He doubted was here to talk about peace and love and roast marshmellows.

Another thing Shinji looked forward to was the battle armor Wheeljack was making him to wear instead of a plug suit.

"So far the Angel is taking our attacks." Sideswipe told Misato.

"You know leaving out that you were installing laser, missile and several other kinds of energy weapon batteries around the city is annoying." Misato grumbled.

"Oh General Toru knew and approved of it." Wheeljack said. Misato didn't look forward to telling the commander that little bit of information.

"The AT field on that thing is a lot stronger then the one on the last guy." Sideswipe said "I believe MAGI said we need a big honking space gun...which we'd have on the Ark if it wasn't face first in the dirt."

"Right let's do this." Shinji said "Till all are one."

"Till all are one." Wheeljack and Sideswipe chanted.

Rei blinked and looked a bit surprised when she heard Shinji and the Autobots say that. She kept that expression as she got into the Entry Plug and Eva 00 was powered up.

Sideswipe's holoavatar looked over a bridge bunny's shoulder as they were about to launch the Angels.

"I'm no Prowl but won't that shaft put Eva 01 directly into the path of the Angel?" Sideswipe asked "And in front of something we're not sure what it can do but will definitely attack when there's an Evangelion in their path?"

"Right." Misato said "Use another opening for Eva 01."

The two Evangelions rocketed to the surface and Shinji nearly got fried by a laser beam. It was only due to not being directly in front of Ramiel and that Wheeljack had improved the response time of the Evangelions to the thoughts of the pilots that kept him from becoming smoked Eva with a side order of deep fried pilot.

"And that was still too close." Sideswipe commented.

"MAGI reports that is the Angel is a living nuclear reactor." Ritsuko said.

Shinji was too busy fighting for his life to sarcastically comment on how great that bit of news was. Now he had to worry about nuclear fallout as well as a monster out to destroy the city. The only thing that reassured him was Rei and the Autobots had his back.

Ramiel kept on firing at the Evangelions. The pair weren't sure how much longer they could dodge the attacks of the living nuclear reactor. The only thing that seemed to be saving them was the fact that the Angel was more interested in drilling to the Geo Front for something it felt was important.

Shinji hoped it was for the Commander. Maybe he owned them money or something. Though it was probably something bigger then monetary debts.

Still Shinji and Rei couldn't get close enough to use their melee weapons and so far their compressed air guns weren't hurting it. Shinji grimaced thinking how poorly this would have gone without the Autobots.

And if Misato got her job at the bottom of a box of cracker jacks for wanting to put him right in front of the 5th Angel. He honestly did like Misato but it was like no one at NERV had ever read the Art of War. Well other then Gendo. Shinji was pretty sure he could recite from memory passages of the book.

"Fall back." Misato ordered the Children "We're going to need a bigger gun for this."

The pair managed to get away from Ramiel and Shinji wondered where they'd find a gun big enough to take out the piece of modern art with a laser cannon.

-

The presence of General Kenji Toru and his office in the Geo Front was one of the more annoying things the Transformers caused Gendo Ikari. The UN would have given over command to fight the Angels to him after they were proved powerless against it.

The general was a pest but frankly so far turning out to be a good addition to NERV. It cut down the paperwork Gendo had to deal with, and worked to give NERV a more photogenic leader. The only down side was the general's altering of Section 2 and bringing in his own men.

Gendo of course had his scientists and such that were working on his captured Transformers using different areas of the Geo Front that were solid walls or in waste disposal on the blue prints. And right now Gendo would have liked for the Autobot talking to him to be in that lab in pieces.

"Commander Ikari." Prowl said "What do you have in the Geo Front that the Angels are interested in?"

It was only logical given how the 5th Angel ,which made Prowl wonder where the first two Angels were given the one they had crushed was labeled the 3rd one, was tunneling through the armor plating to get inside the Geo Front. And that the last two had come to Tokyo-3 as well supported his theory. All this made Prowl also wonder why they had no records on the first two Angels.

Gendo shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

General Toru didn't look happy with that answer. Prowl was sure that whatever the Angels were after General Toru or Captain Katsuragi hadn't been told. The pair seemed trustworthy to him. Prowl knew he'd have to ask Smokescreen what he thought of them. Smokescreen had a knack for understanding people on a level he was unable to.

"It has been said in jest that they are after you." Prowl noted.

"I'd believe that." General Toru muttered under his breath. Prowl heard it clearly.

"We are the premiere anti-angel defense force of the planet. Wouldn't you attack the only enemies that could affect you?" Gendo asked.

"You were the only defense force." General Toru said "And given you nearly put an Evangelion right in front of an Angel with a laser cannon I'm not impressed."

"That was not the best tactical move." Prowl stated.

"We might bring Sideswipe onto the staff and give him a job in Operations if he keeps up the good work." General Toru said.

"We are getting off topic." Prowl stated "The issue is that of all the NERV bases this is the only one the Angels are going for."

"Care to give a better reason Commander Ikari?" General Toru said in a deceptively calm tone. Gendo's attitude was really annoying him. And it wouldn't surprise him if Gendo was sleeping with Doctor Akagi. Rumor was Gendo liked them attractive and intelligent.

Gendo smirked. "Whatever the reason, Tokyo-3 seems to be the front line in the War against the Angels, do you not agree?"

"Which by this point doesn't explain why Eva 02 and Eva 04 and their pilots are elsewhere." Prowl said.

"Eva-02 has been summoned from NERV Germany. 04 is still being tested." he said.

"And what of Evangelion 03?" General Toru asked.

"An Eva can be rigged to one of the Ark's shuttles for transport if logistics are the problem." Prowl said.

"So if we need it we don't need to use the UN fleet as a delivery service." General Toru commented.

"I question the logic of having never told the 4th child of his Evangelion. Perhaps if it was his friend Kensuke I could understand." Prowl said.

"The Marduk Institute thought it best to keep them unaware of such, until the need arose for their services." Gendo said

Prowl gave a Gendo a burning glare that cut through him like a sword in a hurricane through anything.

"That is the most tactically inept idea I have ever heard in my entire life." Prowl stated firmly and coldly.

"You went to all the trouble to get your own son to drive one of those things when one of your vaulted Children was in the city? Now I understand those Evangelions are picky on who can pilot them but you didn't even check?" General Toru said "I swear you and the scientists behind the Evangelions had to have watched too much anime before setting this all up."

"Perhaps, but it is the Politically expedient one. Raise your problems with it to them."

"That would require it to be an actual entity." Prowl said.

"Oh?" Gendo asked, raising a disinterested eyebrow.

"Beyond the report on the various Children we have found no reference to such a group." Prowl said "Or any records of anyone employed by them. No expense reports. No proof it ever existed beyond names and empty offices."

"I'm starting to think this place is run by James Bond fans." General Toru commented.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"I have been discussing the current situation with MAGI" Prowl said "Beyond dropping another starship on this one there is only one option."

It was then Misato came into Toru's office.

"Commander! I think I have an idea for taking the fifth out!"

"You intend to use a sniper rifle." Prowl said.

"We- Hey, how did you know?!"

"I came to the same conclusion after the fight started and no one was able to hurt the Angel." Prowl said "I have had Bluestreak teaching Shinji how to snipe since. Artfire would have been a better choice, but he wasn't a part of the Ark's crew."

Misato looked annoyed at having her plan thought up by someone else.

"Huffer is creating a shield that would better then that would be more effective then a piece of a space shuttle." Prowl said.

Prowl's expression then softened slightly.

"Don't take this as a slight Captain." Prowl said "You had the same plan as I did after all."

"Er... Thanks. I guess..." Misato said.

"Captain Katsuragi." Prowl said "I have been doing the same job as you for several million years now. The only thing from Terra that can compute and plan at the same speed as me is MAGI."

"Fair enough..." she said after a moment.

"Captain Katsuragi...I believe having Eva 00 pick up the positronic rifle will improve your mood a bit." Prowl said "Prowl out."

Then Prowl cut the transmission.

-

At the Ark a section of the ship had been turned into a foundry. In it Gears and Hoist were working on creating something that could take being blasted by Shockwave's laser cannon.

"Primus sake now we need to build a shield." Gears grumbled "For a girl that has less feelings then Prowl."

"At least you aren't working with Bluestreak to teach him how to be a sniper." Hoist remarked.

Gears turned away and smiled for a moment.

"And Wheeljack is improving the human's positronic rifle." Hoist commented "Cutting the down time between shots."

"Just hope the thing doesn't explode after he's done with it." Gears said "Given everyone here likes Shinji."

"Even you?" Hoist asked.

"I can put up with him and his friends." Gears replied. Which was high praise from the grumpy Autobot Engineer.

"And I can't believe they were going to use a piece of a space shuttle as a shield." Hoist stated "That thing wasn't worth slag."

"Not like they had anything better." Gears said "But it still won't work."

"We know a lot more about high temperature resistant metals than they've learned. We can do much better." Hoist said.

Gear just grumbled and went back to work on the shield. They didn't have enough time to work in an energy or energon shield into the shield, but it was die cast like the Ark was so it should be able to take the Angel's attack.

Hoist wasn't sure if the lack of noise from Wheeljack's lab was a good or bad thing. He just hoped it'd actually work against the Angel. Given letting Wheeljack create a N2 bazooka would Plan B. To be honest no one had any idea how such a weapon would work, but it wouldn't be the first idea Wheeljack had that no one else could understand.

And perhaps it was for the best.

-

A temporary base had been set up in the mountains. Misato was impressed with how quickly it had been set up, and how Brawn was able to lift everything used for the base like it was an empty beer can.

Inside it next to her were the holo avatars of Hound and Sideswipe.

"Powering up the transformers."

"Over a thousand Transformers?" Hound asked.

"If they did we could wear down the Angel with sheer numbers." Sideswipe joked.

"Very funny." Shinji said inside Eva 01. He tried to remember what Bluestreak taught him, and none of the extra commentary. Which was very difficult given the Autobot liked to gab. Oh it was really hard.

Still Bluestreak knew his stuff when it came to sniping.

Shinji lined up the shot and fired at Ramiel. The shot only clipped the Angel. Blood flowed and showed that it Angel might look strange by it was organic and could be pissed. No one was sure the horrific scream came from but they heard one come form the 5th Angel.

Evangelion 00 raised it's shield and got in front of Evangelion 01. A massive blast of energy collided with the shield. The paint on the shield bubbled and came off it yet the shield itself held as it was nearly as tough as the hull of the Ark.

Ritsuko watched as the shield held. By this point the shuttle piece she intended to use for this would have been completely destroyed and Rei would have started to boil now. With the Autobot's supposedly die cast shield the only thing gone was the paint job.

The head scientist of NERV took this in as yet another change to Gendo's grand plan. What confounded her the most was the fact that Gendo seemed unworried by the changes and that he'd still be reunited with his wife. Who Ritsuko was fairly sure was to going run over Gendo with a car when he found out what he'd done to their son, a girl that could be considered Yui's daughter, and of course having sex with other women while Yui was in Eva 01.

Ritsuko imagined the car to be a red Dodge Viper. She doubted Sideswipe would avoid the chance to help Yui out with her revenge.

After the positronic rifle had recharged Shinji fired again and blasted Ramiel through the chest and through the core. The 5th Angel crashed to the ground.

"Rei?" Shinji asked.

"Yes Pilot Ikari." Rei replied.

"How about next time I hold the shield and you shoot?" Shinji suggested "And for some reason I'm in the mood for soup."

-

After the battle Misato inspected the recovery of the Angel. Hound drove out to the site and transformed to robot mode.

"Glad this plan worked." Hound said.

"It was my plan too." Misato said "But Prowl beat me to the punch." Misato grumpled.

"You managed to come up with the same plan as Prowl?" Hound said shocked.

"Yeah... Though mine was a bit more rough and ready.." she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Misato there has been only one other being to come up with the same ideas as Prowl." Hound said. "And you're a lot nicer then Shockwave."

"Who's that then, aside from bad news?"

"You know all those movies you have about cold ruthlessly logical machines?" Hound said.

"I love those!" she said.

"That's Shockwave." Hound said.

Hound brought up a hologram of Shockwave. The Decepticon was purple in color, had a laser cannon replacing one hand, and no no face to speak of. He had a yellow optic on a featureless face. He nearly scared everyone working on recovery of the 5th Angel to death when he did that.

"That's the personality he has." Hound said pointing at the life size HoloShockwave.

"Nasty looking customer." she said after a moment.

"He used to be a politician too." Hound noted "So was Starscream for that matter."

"Natch." Misato said.

"And that laser cannon he is second only to Megatron's fusion cannon." Hound said.

"Eeep!"

"And I mean is" Hound said as suddenly the HoloShockwave turned into a flying laser pistol.

"That... That doesn't seem physically possible!"

"By current human standards." Hound noted.

"And Misato your plans were more rough and tumble because you didn't have geniuses of engineering and inventing like Prowl does." Hound said "Given your friend is smart but I don't think she could on the fly dramatically improve that shuttle shield."

She chuckled weakly. "Well.."

"Prowl makes everyone feel like an idiot at times." Hound said.

"And Prowl brought up something to me...did you know there is no sign of the Marduke Institute ever existing?" Hound asked.

"No tax records, no employees, no fiscal reports." Hound said "True holding companies aren't exactly illegal if they aren't doing illegal acts but for something this important it's really fishy."

She frowned. "No, I didn't know that..."

"Of course not." Hound said "You're too busy doing your job. You're not some super sleuth like Sherlock Homes and had no reason to doubt their existence."

Misato was really starting to wonder if anything Gendo Ikari had said was true. The fact he seemed to be involved in so many things involving the Angel War was starting to make her wonder what this was all about.

"Misato did you see how Rei acted when Shinji said 'Till all are one?' and given how guarded she is..." Hound said.

"Yeah... Well, the Commander is her guardian and everything.." Misato said and then grumbled "And did a crap job of it."

"Yeah Cliffjumper told everyone about where she lived. Her place at the apartment Grapple made for Kensuke was light years better."

"Just be careful Misato." Hound said "We don't know what his ultimate plan is, but I doubt it's anything that would be good for the world."

Misato could tell he was referring to commander Gendo Ikari. It was no secret that the Autobots didn't see eye to optic with the commander of NERV and had compared him to several Decepticons.

"I understand." she said.

"You'd have made one hell of an Autobot Misato." Hound commented.

"Thanks." she said.

"Just be careful." Hound said.

She nodded. "Looks like I've got work to do.."

"The sort of work Nightbeat lives for." Hound said.

"Right. I'll see you later, I guess."

"I just hope you don't end up in as much trouble as he does." Hound said.

He then transformed and drove off. Misato wondered what other surprises she'd find trying to get to the bottom of things. And she had a feeling her best friend was involved in all this. She hoped Rits wasn't deeply involved in this but it felt hoping against hope.

-

After finding no sign of the Ark on Titan, Galaxy Shuttle and his crew worked their way to the inner planets of the Solar System. They landed on Mars and started exploring it.

Cloudburst was scanning the radio and TV signals from Sol 3. Suddenly he found programs about the Ark, Autobots and Decepticons.

"Starsaber." Cloudburst said "I've found them! They're on Earth."

"That's great news." Starsaber said "Which planet is Earth?"


	9. Chapter 9

Shinji turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels to see if he even got into the news.

"It's all a hoax. The Angels, the Transformers, the zombies so we have something to get excited about."

"Outside the Ark today Grimlock flipped off passers by."

"Today plans for a Crystal City Memorial park were announced today. The city in question is one of many that been destroyed on Cybertron during the current war."

"Rumors of a Transformers movie are in the works. No word on if the actual Transformers will be in it, but Hoist did say if asked he would appear in the movie."

"Who do you think we are?!"

"Plans for an Earth Defense Force started today. It is unknown what role NERV would have in it."

"Rumors of a dead Transformer as the source of technology for the Evangelions."

Shinji turned off the TV. He then turned to Rei and said "Guess we aren't as interesting as the Transformers."

"I caught someone going through our trash." Rei stated.

"You didn't tell them about the...incident did you?" Shinji asked.

"I do not understand why you wish that event to be a secret." Rei said.

"I don't need everyone especially Hikari thinking I'm a pervert." Shinji grumbled.

"Am I your girlfriend?" Rei asked.

"Ummm...ahhh...I have no idea." Shinji admitted "I'm not against it. But my best friends are mostly aliens from outer space. My life is completely weird."

"That doesn't bother me." Rei said.

Shinji wasn't sure what to say and then saw Misato coming out of her room. Shinji noted Misato had cleaned up and was in her military uniform. He glanced at the calendar and noticed today was a special day.

"You're going to the public unveiling of Jetalone?" Shinji asked.

Misato nodded, absently checking her pistol was clean and loading it. "Yeah, I thought I might. If it goes well, it might be useful backup for the Eva's..." Unspoken but obvious were her true feelings, that it could mean her little _imouto-chan_ might not have to risk his life and sanity so much, if Jetalone was a success.

"I got to get my coat then." Shinji said "Wheeljack invited Sideswipe, Hound and me to the unveiling."

She nodded. "Okay. Meet me outside in a few minutes; I need to check something in the car first."

Shinji nodded.

"I'm sure you can survive on your own for the night." Shinji said to Penpen "Just remember to throw your beer cans in the recycle bin."

"Wark." Penpen said, as Misato left.

"You want to come too Rei?" Shinji asked.

"No thank you." Rei replied "NERV will all ready be represented enough at that event."

Shinji got his coat, his SDAT, and his cellphone. He had a feeling Grandslam and Raindance would be important. Not that he ever went anywhere without his bodyguards. They definitely kept him safe and could deal with nearly anything that attacked him. Especially if it was human.

When he got down there, Misato was filling the radiator with water, and had a 'v' shaped smudge of grease on her cheek; the only sign of her having checked her car thoroughly.

"Making sure it isn't a robot in disguise?" Shinji asked.

She chuckled. "Just something I've been meaning to do for a while." she replied, pulling a paper napkin from the glovebox and trying to clean the smudge off her cheek.

Shinji chuckled as he got into the car.

"I just wonder if anyone will be stupid enough to say Jetalone is better then the Evas. Given Wheeljack has been improving both and the JSSF's Trident mech project."

"I wouldn't be surprised." she said, as she pulled out of the carpark. "Boys and their toys, you know." she clarified.

"Disregarding they're all Wheeljack's toys." Shinji said.

"True, true." she smiled, checking her mirrors as they turned at an intersection.

"Though I'd dig seeing Doctor Akagi and whoever getting into a pissing contest...and for someone to point out Wheeljack is the one behind both their toys. I do hope that someone is me." Shinji said with a grin.

"If you don't, then I will." she said with a smile. "I've never seen one of those corporate executives eat crow before, and I'd really like to see it at least once."

"And we got company." Shinji commented"Wheeljack, Sideswipe, and Hound. And are you going to try racing Wheeljack and Sideswipe there?"

"As much as I'd like to, I know when I'm beat. Anyway, I only really push it in emergencies. Or if it's good for a laugh." she amended.

"Or the fact your about 0 100 against Sideswipe." Shinji commented. The two loved to race, but Sideswipe was just faster and more maneuverable then Misato and her car were. And Wheeljack always enjoyed showing off his moves.

"That too." she said. Misato made a mental note to have the Autobots improve her car so she'd have much better chances in her races with them.

"So are we going to pick up the good Doctor?"

"It'd be a bit of a squeeze, so she requisitioned a NERV VTOL to take herself and a few things there."

"Think seeing me there will shock her?" Shinji asked.

Misato nodded. "Probably. She'll probably swear the air blue that you should be back at NERV, in case of any emergencies, like an Angel showing up or something."

"Avoiding that most of the Autobots use lasers and those go through an AT Field like it wasn't even there." Shinji said "Plus they still have Rei and her Evangelion."

"Rits is a great scientist, but she's stuffy sometimes." Misato said.

"She's just not as creative as Wheeljack." Shinji said.

"And a paradigm shift like the Autobots arrival is.." she shrugged.

"To say nothing about MAGI and Wheeljack's relationship." Shinji said.

"She's not adapted, has she?" Misato said, as their convoy set off for the testing range.

"Not very well." Shinji said "Then again she found out the computer she believe she knew how to run was smarter then anyone believed and didn't want to talk to organic beings."

She sighed. "Like I said, Rits is a great scientist, but sometimes, Faith matters more." she said, unconsciously touching the cross around her neck.

"Till all are one." Shinji said.

"What's that mean, anyway?" she asked. "You've said it a bunch of times before and I've always wondered what it meant."

"It's a religious thing." Shinji said "Like saying Amen, or making the cross symbol."

"Let me just say this Misato the Transformers have faith."

She smiled and nodded. "I can relate." she said simply, as they drove on.

Misato was quiet now, but Shinji could hear her murmur the phrase to herself a few times, thinking it over.

The rest of the trip was quiet and peaceful. Shinji mentally prepared himself for the crowd. He knew it was going to be crazy in there and thankfully Gendo won't be there. His brooding presence would definitely drag down everyone.

For once Shinji was glad Gendo tended to delegate things he didn't want to do nor had to appear at. He didn't know the Sub-Commander at all and the Autobots found it weird that the man had taught Shinji's parents in college. It was like Gendo Ikari had to be mentioned somewhere in the history of everyone at NERV.

Soon they arrived at the Testing site, and the two of them got a good look at the Jetalone. Shinji noted a bit of a Zaku influence on the look of Jetalone and figured Wheeljack was trying to be a bit humorous.

"Could be worse." Misato said. "Could have looked like... oooh, what's that series again?" she snapped her fingers a few times trying to remember the name.

"Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann." Shinji said.

"No, not that... Oh yeah, I remember now." she said. "The Zentraedi from Macross."

"They said their comrade Jetfire looks a lot like a Valkyrie." Shinji noted.

She chuckled. "How'd he take it?"

"They haven't been able to reestablish communications with Cybertron." Shinji said "They can't just phone home like ET."

"Oh. Pity.." she said, as they walked over to the observation area.

Shinji chuckled as the scenario he foresaw had come to pass. Ritsuko and the executives behind Jetalone were fighting over who had the best toys. It was really amusing to see. Shinji held out Raindance to record the whole thing.

"Hi Doctor Akagi." Shinji said.

Ritsuko waved absently, looking harried by the executive who was loudly proclaiming the superiority of Jet Alone over the Evangelions.Shinji let out a loud whistle getting the attention both the executive and Ritsuko.

"Allow me to introduce the sentient being responsible for the improvements to Jetalone, the Evangelions, and the Trident project still in development. My very good friend....Wheeljack."

Misato wished that she'd brought a camera to record this moment. The look of awe and shock when people first saw the Transformers in person was always interesting. Even Gendo 'ice water in his veins' Ikari was shocked when the Transformers first transformed in front of him.

It took a bit of work to get Wheeljack, Sideswipe and Hound into the observation area. They had to take a sports arena and modify it so the Autobots could get inside. True they could have used their holo avatars at the original planned site but then they'd have to life heavy objects all night for anyone to believe them.

The Executive looked at the Transformers with shock and awe. Seeing them on TV, and reading about them didn't prepare him for the sheer size of the Transformers. It was a good thing the Autobots weren't armed with Sideswipe and Hound smiling. Seeing them in a dark room or alley with their guns out would have made him run for an antitank weapon.

"Thank you Shinji" Wheeljack said.

Misato grinned widely, like a shark, before a sudden thoughtful look crossed her face. She waved Wheeljack down so she could speak _sotto voce_ to him. Wheeljack humored her. She could have just whispered and he would have heard her while standing up.

"Do you have any contingency plans, in case Jet Alone goes rogue?" she asked him softly.

"I changed one thing." Wheeljack said "It requires a human pilot."

"A human pilot? So it's more a mech now than an autonomous system?"

"Yeah." Wheeljack said "Given MAGI is the only system that could run and fight the Decepticons."

"Any other system would be too slow and sluggish to be anything but target practice."

She nodded. "Who's the pilot, do you know?"

"Commander Adam Witwicky." Wheeljack said.

"Is he reliable?"Misato asked. She knew Colonel Daniel Witwicky had no love for Gendo and was leader of the new security force General Toru put into place but she didn't know Adam.

"MAGI told us Gendo started swearing the instant he heard the news," Wheeljack explained with a robotic shrug.

"Good enough for me." Misato grinned.

"Plus Ratchet designed the antiviral software package for Jetalone." Wheeljack added.

She nodded. "How much work would it take to defeat that, speaking theoretically?"

"MAGI couldn't do it." Wheeljack said "And she tried as a test."

She grinned. Perfect. Thanks for setting my mind at ease."

"Glad I did that." Wheeljack said.

She nodded, before coming back over to Shinji's side.

"I was just telling them about Eva 00 taking a swing at Gendo." Shinji said. While the incident wasn't exactly talked about at NERV, the footage of it existed and the Autobots were able to access it. It was also a story Shinji wouldn't have ever mentioned if Rei was at the party.

"Since it goes to show even the Evas don't like him."

The group of Executives grinned evilly." Tell me, Shinji-san.." one of them said. "If NERV were to lose its' funding by Jet Alone being a success, would you be interested in joining us? I think we could arrange for you to have a very extensive, and most accommodating, incentive package..."

"Thank you for the job offer." Shinji said "Though how much are you willing to pay me? I want to know given I'm sure the Earth Defense Force that is being set up will want my services as well."

Shinji turned to Doctor Akagi with a smile on his face.

"I have to keep my job options open." Shinji commented.

Ritsuko nodded. "I've been thinking of going into the Private Sector myself. The hypothetical collapse of NERV might be the incentive I need." she said.

"Speaking hypothetically, of course."

Shinji then turned to the executives.

"And MAGI might be open to a job offer. Surprisingly she's just as sentient as the Transformers are. Her boyfriend is the one who redesigned Jetalone." Shinji said. Ritsuko wasn't quite sure MAGI was truly 'sentient' though having the Transformers believe that was something she kept in mind.

One of the execs nodded. "And a first-class work it is too. We didn't even know about that backdoor access in the programming..."

"Definitely not a good thing with Soundwave around." Shinji said.

"And potentially disastrous, if we were still using a fission reactor.." a labcoated tech had joined them.

"Energon is a wonderful thing isn't it?" Shinji asked.

The tech nodded. "But seriously, you don't know how disastrous it might have been...."

"Well there's Cherynobl as a bench mark." Shinji said.

The tech shook his head, "We're looking more at a full-scale Nuclear explosion, easily in the low Megaton-range. Here, look at this map.." he said, sketching something on his clipboard.

"Like someone dropped an N2 mine." Shinji said.

The tech showed him. "Okay. We're here, right?"

Shinji nodded.

"And the objects in all the Tokyos in the region that could take a nuke going off with no damage would be the Geo Front given it's underground, and the Ark given it's made of Die Cast construction." Shinji said.

"And the fact the Ark won't be ground zero." Sideswipe said.

If the reactor had overloaded it could have, let's say, traveled as far away as... here, before it finally melted down." he said drawing a circle and pointed out any urban areas in the circle.

"And the Decepticons...well I think some of them would set it off for a nice big boom." Shinji said.

"You won't believe how low their standards are....some of them have trouble shooting straight." Sideswipe said.

Misato sighed. "Just as well for us, eh?"

"Though Misfire, and Slugslinger definitely weren't on the Nemesis." Sideswipe said "And neither was Quake thank Primus. That glitch head would have shot at everything."

The presentation started as Misato opened her mouth to reply.

Jetalone moved with the grace of a transformer, the compressed airgun blew a 3rd angel shaped target apart. It dodged to the side and threw an axe through the heart of a 4th Angel shaped target.

It was then several F-22s flew into the Target range. Misato grabbed a set of binoculars and looked at them. They definitely weren't military colors and the massive purple Decepticon symbol on their wings made it clear exactly what they were. Then a strange bomber came into view flying in formation with the Seekers.

"Shit! We got company!" she shouted.

Shinji threw his Cellphone and SDAT into the air. Raindance and Grandslam transformed.

The Execs and Techs ran for it. They were not fighters nor wanted to be in the way when giant robots starting shooting at each other.

"Good thing." Shinji said "Can you two keep them safe?"

"No problem." Grandslam said.

"This is why I keep telling you the Autobots are better bodyguards then Section 2 Doctor Akagi." Shinji commented.

Misato gazed cautiously out over the verandah as the fight unfolded.

"They're bringing Eva 01." Sideswipe said.

"How?" Shinji asked.

"Tractor beamed to the bottom of a shuttle." Sideswipe said "All charged up and ready to go."

Two of the Seekers, whom were identified as Skywarp and Sunstorm transformed to fight Jetalone in robot mode. The other two, Thundercracker and Thrust strafed Jetalone.

"Take this scrap for brains." Adam thought as he fired the gun at them.

He managed to hit Sunstorm, but Skywarp teleported out of the way.

Misato frowned. "Any ideas on this, guys?"

Sideswipe, Hound and Wheeljack got out of the sports arena and were giving Jetalone cover fire. They especially tried to get Lugnut's attention. The Kaon Krusher likely could punch Jetalone in half if he was able to use his 'punch of kill everything".

"Megatron is slag!" Sideswipe yelled.

That got Lugnut's attention. Bad mouthing Megatron got Lugnut's attention like nothing else would. The only most one track mindedly loyal Decepticon tried to cut Sideswipe in half with his ax.

Sideswipe dodged to the right and hit Lugnut in the face with a piledriver. He hit the side of Lugnut's head and shattered two of his back up optics. Lugnut then was going to hit Sideswipe with his punch of kill everything when Hound going 65 mph transformed and punched the loyal Decepticon while flying through the air.

The Seekers easily moved faster then Jetalone and stayed out of range of his weapons. Sunstorm was annoyed they didn't have Starscream with them. Their Air Commander's null rays would be great to stop this human laugh for a guardian dead in it's tracks.

Sunstorm then hit Jetalone with a burst of plasma. Thrust then slammed into Sunstorm. Wheeljack was happy. It looked like his gyro destablizer worked perfectly. Wheeljack then dodged a burst of fire from Sunstorm.

Thundercracker and Thrust were blasted out of the sky by the Autobot Shuttle. Cliffjumper smiled as he watched the cons hit the ground. Bumblebee shook his head at that.

Shinji emerged from a bathroom in an altered plugsuit. The white had replaced with red, and on the chest was the Autobot symbol. He also a full face covering helmet with a visor. On his back was a small jet pack.

Misato whistled. "Love the look."

"This is still just test for my real suit." Shinji said. Shinji had seen what it was supposed to look like and he loved it. It made him look like the hero of an anime. He'd also be able to leap out of the car with Misato driving and not suffer a scratch either.

Shinji ran out of the building and took off. He flew into the Eva, and into the cockpit. Wheeljack had been improving the Entry Plug to make it easier to get in and out of given what happened in the first test of Eva 00. Then Commander Adam "Spike" Witwicky came up on the screen.

"Glad you could make it kid." Adam said.

"Glad to me here." Shinji said.

Then suddenly the ground started to shake.

"The hell is going on?!" Misato yelled.

Suddenly a massive drill went into Eva 01's leg.

Shinji was damn glad he didn't feel biofeedback. Or rather he didn't feel the pain of the Evangelion anymore. Wheeljack's changes to how the Evangelion worked paid off right there. Shinji drove his axe into the base of the drill and heavily damaged it.

"A drill?" Misato asked. "What the hell?"

Shinji got off the axe...and turned on the self repair for the Eva. Wheeljack thankfully had found out the Evas could be made to self repair themselves. A massive purple fist rose out of the ground.

Then the ground was shoved out of the way and Devastator rose from the ground. The instrument of destruction made up of construction equipment stood as tall as Jetalone and Evangelion 01 and it looked angry.

"Oh hell..." Misato said in a tiny voice

"Prepare for extermination!" Devastator bellowed.

Shinji was glad Rei wasn't here. He honestly had heard a lot of stories about Devastator smashing nearly everything the Autobots threw at it but another combiner, the Dinobots, and Trailbreaker surprisingly enough.

And of course the fact a simulation of the first Decepticon combiner handed him his ass in front of the UN. Still Shinji knew he had to beat Devasator now.

Shinji also had been getting training from Jazz on various Cybertronian Martial Arts. He got Eva 01 into a very basic Metallikato stance. Though he wasn't sure if Devastator was smart enough to realize what it was. And he was right.

Devastator punched Eva 01 in the gut and then kicked Jetalone in the face. Shinji swung his ax hoping to hit a connector point on Devastator's arm, but the gestalt grabbed Shinji's arm and squeezed.

Jetalone struck at Devastator's chest with his axe. It got the gestalt's attention and a blast from Devastator's optics for his troubles. It threw Jetalone back and Shinji used the distraction break free of Devastator's vice like grip.

The Seekers took advantage of Devastator was what the Autobots were paying attention to so they could strike them. However they found that wasn't as good an idea as it could be given the Autobot shuttle and the fact Sideswipe and Wheeljack could fly negated many of their advantages.

Sideswipe tossed Sunstorm into Devastator's gut with a jet judo throw. Shinji tried to knock Devastator off his feet with a sweep kick while it was trying to figure out what hit it. The gestalt didn't move an inch when Eva 01's foot hit the back of Devastator's legs.

Thundercracker slammed into the side of the shuttle, thinking it was open air. The next thing Thundercracker saw was the side of it open and Ironhide spraying him with molten lead.

Spike suddenly got an idea.Jetalone fired a compressed air blast right in Devastator's face. Devastator's optics shattered and Spike had managed to blind the gestalt.

Raindance flew out of the building and fired at the blinded giant.

"Let him have it." Adam said over the comm link.Shinji just nodded.

Jetalone fired on Devastator's chest while Shinji drove his axe into one of the legs. Sparks flew from the wound Shinji inflicted on the gestalt.

Misato wished that she had a camera.

Wheeljack, Grandslam, Sideswipe and Hound added their firepower into blasting Devastator.With a double punch from Jetalone and Eva 01 they drove Devastator into the pit he came from.

The gestalt decombined and the Constructions drove away with the tunnel collapsing behind them.

Seeing how things had turned the Seekers flew away as fast as they could. Lugnut was about to call them cowards when the Autobot Shuttle strafed him. It was enough to get even him to run for it.

Misato looked down. "Now that was a hole."

"Looks like the Cons figured it'd be a good idea to trash Jetalone." Hound said.

"But they got trashed instead." Sideswipe said with a laugh.

One of the Executives cautiously returned. "Is it over now?"

"Yeah." Wheeljack said "Jetalone and Eva 01 together managed to beat Devastator."

"And keep in mind the only thing short of a Guardian class Transformer that's ever managed to beat him is Trailbreaker and the Dinobots." Sideswipe said.

The exec was thunderstruck. "So, um..."

"You're going to need more giant mechs not less." Sideswipe said "Because the Decepticons aren't going anywhere."

The Exec nodded. "How... How soon do you want them?"

"ASAP" Wheeljack said "Though I just thought of a few ideas for upgrades and improvements."

"We'll start cranking them out as fast as we can immediately."

"Good" Hound said "Because you'll need them."

The exec nodded and hurried off.

The man hurried back after a moment. "Er.. One more thing."

"We got the whole fight recorded." Grandslam said.

"Raindance got a good shot of Jetalone and Eva 01 punching Devastator into the pit."Hound noted.

He nodded, and passed him a card. "Could he transmit the files to us? It would be a shame if it were to be suppressed."

"He already did." Grandslam said.

"Let's just say anything to anger Gendo Ikari is worth it."Sideswipe commented.

The man looked like he could have kissed him, and he danced off, whistling a merry tune.

"Well that turned out well." Hound said.

"I just hope MAGI can get the look on Gendo's face when he sees the footage." Sideswipe said.

"I'm sure she will." Wheeljack said "And the Quantum Laboratories rep offered a job for MAGI and I. They want to see if we can get an old project called TORQ working."


	10. Chapter 10

Galaxy Shuttle hovered over the dark side of the Moon. Inside the Autobots were shocked. They thought that no one had been to Earth before. And now one of the crew told them that wasn't true.

"You'd been this planet before?" Blacker asked.

"Righto sir." Highflyer said "Still got the Alt form I gained there."

"So that's where he got that." Slingshot muttered. Silverbolt shot Slingshot a look to be quiet.

"And how come none of us knew about it?" Blacker asked.

"It was a hush hush black ops mission." Highflyer said "I'm not even sure if Optimus Prime got the report."

Starsaber wondered who did know about the mission then. Optimus would have avoided the planet if he knew it was inhabited. The Ark was on an energy finding mission given their reserves on Cybertron were running dangerously low. Though using geothermal and solar energy collection would work, that usually drew in the Decepticons and they tended to enjoy slaughtering local life forms and if they had to, blow up the planet to deny the resources of it to the Autobots.

And there was of course the mess on Nebulos...

"One of the Ark's shuttles has taken off." Highbeam said "The course it's taken suggests it's heading for the Pacific Ocean."

"Highflyer you come with me." Starsaber said "The two of us are going to meet with the shuttle."

"You're not going directly to the Ark?" Silverbolt asked sounding confused.

"As much as I'd like to." Starsaber said "I think we need to keep Gendo Ikari out of the loop as much as possible on our numbers and were we are. He reminds me way too much of Megatron and Starscream."

"Plus the fact there isn't a space port for Galaxy Shuttle in Autobot City." Blacker said.

"And there's something there those Angels want." Starsaber said "And I'm sure I won't be happy when I found out what it is."

-

In the Detroit offices of Biotech Unbound the CEO Prometheus Black wondered how he could get his hands on the Evangelions. Their biotech would be very useful for his projects. Though getting his hands on Transformer tech was a lot easier then the Evas.

He was driven from his musings by a specific light on his desk blinking.

"Well this is interesting Agent Black." a modulated computerized voice said.

"The Transformers technology has helped my bioenchancement programs" Prometheus Black said.

"And the subjects?"

"They are all showing unique abilities." Black said "Though we had to make a special suit for one of them. Glad I picked someone else to do that test. I nearly became a sentient pool of acid."

"Yes that would have been...tragic."

Black could tell his 'boss' didn't hold much value for his life but even he felt that was cold. It also gave another reason to get out from under the thumb of Machination. Now the only question was to find a group besides the Autobots they had their spies in.

-

"So we're stuck a boat, in the middle of the ocean." Huffer said "Primus the only thing that would be worse then this is trying to build a Space Elevator with current human technology."

Brawn snorted. Still if Huffer wasn't complaining he was recharging or in stasis lock.

Shinji along with his buddies Kensuke and Touji, and Misato Katsuragi were waiting for the Second to appear. Shinji figured this was the best time to tell his friends about Asuka's personality was informing them about her. The Second Child was easy for Shinji to explain.

"Now remember." Shinji said "She's even more arrogant then Grimlock."

Kensuke made a face at any sentient being in the universe other then Starscream being more arrogant them the hard edged and brutal Dinobot Commander.

"But less then Starscream." He added.

"Yeah, yeah, we heard ya the first time, Shin-man." Touji muttered. He didn't know how to take him. On the one hand, his inaction had lead Touji's sister to be hurt, but on the other, Shinji's Autobot friends had fixed her injuries up good as new. And there was the fact his SDAT turned into a tank.

And that the Autobots gave Ken his own house. Which Touji still considered completely insane.

"And glad you put your hat back in the shuttle." Shinji said "Given we'd never hear the end of it if that ended up in a jet fighter."

"Yeah. It's a new one and everything."

"And no if that hat ended up in the afterburners of a Seeker it won't do anything." Shinji said.

"Pity..." he sighed.

"Good thing Ramhorn doesn't mind you holding him Kensuke." Shinji said.

Kensuke favoured Shinji with a beatific smile. "Shinji. I would have walked on red-hot coals for a chance like this..."

"You put with Huffer on the way here." Ramhorn noted "That's a huge feat."

"He's not such a bad guy, once you listen to his war stories." Kensuke commented.

Everyone looked at Kensuke oddly for a moment. That didn't sound like Huffer at all. They shrugged and figured Kensuke mistook which Transformer was which on their flight from Tokyo-3 to the middle of the ocean.

"Shove it up your slagging waste disposal unit Ramhorn!" Huffer said.

"Oh yeah." Shinji said "You tuned out Huffer to listen to Ironhide."

"Huffer was the one complaining about _everything_" Touji said. It made Touji glad he had an IPod and could tune out the whiny Autobot Engineer. Of course nearly any series of loud noises would have been taken to listen to instead of Huffer.

Even a Micheal Bay movie would gladly been taken over listening to Huffer.

"Oh... My bad." Kensuke said while having one hand on the back of his head.

"Great I get compared to Kup." Huffer said "Do I look like some old bot that needs a RAM upgrade and everything reminds him of everything else?!"

Misato whistled. "Focus, people, she's coming."

"You're over 6 million years old Huffer." Shinji said "You're older then our entire civilization."

It was then they saw Asuka. The red head was wearing a yellow sundress and had a carefree expression on her face. Yet the Autobots and Shinji had read about her and knew she was willing to explode like Snarl. Shinji wondered why she hadn't had therapy for her issues. Your mother going to mental hospital and finding her after she hung herself had to mess someone.

"I see her." Ramhorn said "Why is she wearing a sundress on an aircraft carrier?"

"Beats me." Brawn said. He frankly had trouble figuring out half the things humans did.

A wind whipped across the deck, which would have blown Touji's hat off, if he'd been wearing it. All three boys averted their eyes. Though Touji wondered from what he'd been told if Asuka was like Medusa and looking directly at her would turn them to stone.

"I think because she needs it to attract a mate." Huffer said.

It was then a burst of wind pulled Asuka's dress up. Anyone that would have wanted to see it was looking in other directions.

"Primus I can see her sexual organs." Huffer said "There's something I could have gone without seeing."

Brawn snorted. He knew Huffer was exaggerating things a bit but he had to agree that he didn't want see that.

A chuckle met their ears. "Well well. Misato, you're a sight for sore eyes..."

"Kaji" Misato said "Should have expected you to crawl out from under a rock."

"You wound me, Misato..." the unshaven spy said dramatically.

"Ironhide won't let me use his gun." Misato said "I'm sure some liquid nitrogen would cool you off."

"KAJI-KUN...!" a voice cried out gleefully, as Asuka Langley Sorhyu, the Second Child, practically welded herself to his arm.

"Oh god."Huffer said "If they start mating or making out I'm going to regurgitate my energon."

"This is why we're glad you ignored Huffer." Shinji said.

Kensuke was green now.

Ramhorn flew out of Kensuke's hand and transformed into a human sized rhino. At his back hips were two missile launchers. Kaji had a shocked expression at Ramhorn transforming. He had heard about it, even seen it on the news but it was something else to see it right before your eyes. Asuka took it in stride.

"What's up?" Misato asked.

"Besides us having to haul Eva 02 to Wheeljack's shop for the much needed upgrading." Shinji said. Asuka gave Shinji a dirty look for that comment.

"Well, that's a given, isn't it?" Brawn commented "The Decepticreeps would use it for target practice."

"Of course I wonder why her and her Eva was on the other side of the planet when they were needed." Shinji asked looking at Misato for answers.

"Something about final testing, that's what NERV Germany told me." Misato said.

"So Commander Ikari didn't want another Eva try to kick his ass?" Shinji asked. The first activation test of Eva 00 was something that Shinji and the Autobot studied and talked about often for various reasons.

"Berlin-2 didn't really say much." she shrugged.

"Too bad it didn't finish the job." Huffer said.

"Hear hear..." Misato whispered to herself. Brawn, Huffer and Ramhorn heard her and smiled.

"So was there a purpose of this meet and greet?" Shinji asked "And for Rei to be left out?"

"If an Angel shows up at Tokyo-3, she'll take care of it." Misato said.

"No if an Angel shows up there the Autobots will handle it." Shinji and Huffer remarked at the same time.

"What they said." Brawn commented.

"Well, who knows then." she shrugged.

"Well they couldn't deal with the last Angel." Asuka said inserting herself into the conversation. Brawn didn't look impressed with her.

"And you could do better?" Brawn asked.

"Of course I can. I am a fully trained pilot and have a production model Eva." Asuka said proudly.

"That honestly doesn't mean much after stuff Wheeljack has done to the Evangelions." Kensuke commented. Asuka glared at him.

"And they made Eva 02 a prototype to see if we can copy what Wheeljack had done to Eva 01 and 00." Misato said. Asuka glowered at Misato for reminding her of that.

"I mean for Primus's sake none of you figured out compressed air or lasers would go through an AT Field." Huffer ranted "Wasting your time with solid projectiles and nuclear weapons."

"Well, that's all that the Committee would ever budget us for... That and the Prog blades." Misato said annoyed. She was displeased with the committee and their crap. You'd think saving the world was more important then any of the BS they pulled.

"Political slag." Huffer said.

"Hey, has anyone seen Shinji?" Kensuke asked.

They turned and saw Shinji was going back to the shuttle that took them to the Over the Rainbow. He wanted to get away from Asuka and stay as far away from her as he could. Shinji looked like a kid who had his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"What?" Shinji said almost to the Autobot Shuttle "I figured I'd hang out with Ironhide and Sideswipe instead of this."

"Oh, right. I thought you'd vanished into thin air or something." Misato commented.

"That's Mirage's bit." Shinji said with a smile.

"Given he turns into a formula one racer he kind of has to be able to." Huffer said.

"Hey, Third!" Asuka said, grabbing his arm and dragging him off. "Come with me!"

"I said don't mate in front of me." Huffer said.

Asuka just yelled something rude at him in German. The various Autobots easily were able to translate that. Huffer looked extremely annoyed at what she said.

"Slag you too!" Huffer yelled back.

Touji chuckled. "Can't you just feel the love in the air?" he joked.

"No just the salt." Ramhorn deadpanned.

Kensuke raised two cards in the air. A 7.5 for Touji, and an 8 for Ramhorn.

"Will you leave me alone if I say no?" Shinji asked.

She ignored the question, and harangued the use of a boat to get over to the transport ship. Shinji rolled his eyes as he was dragged along by the Second Child.

"Well this explains why you don't have a boyfriend." Shinji said.

"And how could any loser, even a fellow pilot like you, compare to me, the great Asuka Langley Sohryu?" she asked pompously.

"I don't have an ego as big as Cybertron." Shinji commented dryly.

She poked her tongue out at him, as they arrived at the transport ship. "Behold!"

Shinji looked at the red Eva and noticed something that was monumentally stupid. He couldn't believe anyone would think it was a good idea, yet it happened. The Seacons being around were enough to make sure the water friendly gear was on the Eva.

"Wow....what moron put the D Equipment on your Eva?" Shinji asked "Given if an Angel shows up or the Seacons we're screwed."

"And what dummkophf would try and attack here?" she said. Shinji knew she was tempting fate.

"You just hit Murphy in the balls." Shinji said.

Then as if to prove Shinji's point the tanker started to quake. The attack also had the Over the Rainbow shaking.

"We're under attack!" Misato shouted.

"No slag." Huffer said "Anything else you want to tell me I already know?"

"How about that?" she pointed, where what looked like, of all things, a Spitfire, was strafing the Angel as it moved through the water.

"Well given the symbols on his wings that's one of ours." Huffer said.

Then suddenly a sword flew through the air and hit the Angel. The 6th Angel screamed in pain as the blade went through the angel and back into the hand of its owner.

"By the Matrix that's...." Ramhorn exclaimed.

"Starsaber?! What's he doing out here?" Huffer said "And how the pit did he find us?!"

It was then Misato and the others saw a very Optimus Prime looking Autobot that clearly had a jet form of some kind. His shoulders opened up and he unleashed a barrage of missiles at the Sixth Angel. The monster screamed out in pain.

"What in Primus's name is that thing?" Starsaber asked as he flew over Over the Rainbow.

"The Sixth Angel!" Misato shouted.

Back on the tanker Shinji looked at Asuka. In her hands was one of her red plugsuits.

"No." Shinji said "There is no way I am wearing one of your plugsuits."

"Either that or get munched." she said. "Out of my way." she shoved him aside.

Shinji pressed a button on his watch. In a blinding flash of light he was suddenly in his plugsuit/battle armor. It was mostly black with white armor on the knees, arms, and chest. On the chest piece of armor was the Autobot symbol. It also had a white helmet with a black visor.

"This is what I wear." Shinji said with pride.

Asuka gaped for a moment. And she felt a bit jealous at all the wonderful toys the Third Child had.

"Wheeljack was feeling fancy when he made the light show." Shinji said.

"Whatever." she said, getting her own plugsuit on and heading for the entry plug.

"And I better get one of those for myself," she demanded forcefully.

"Plus I don't have to breath that crap anymore." Shinji said easily keeping up.

"Shut up, you annoying brat..." she muttered.

"Who is close personal friends with several aliens from outer space." Shinji said" Always wanted a robot as a friend now I have several of them."

Asuka looked ready to blow a fuse.

"I don't want you mucking up my perfect Eva with your alien toys." Asuka snarled.

"Oh we got help." Shinji said "It seems their greatest swordsman has shown up to help."

"And what can a sword do an angel?" Asuka snapped.

"A lot it seems." Shinji replied.

And meantime the Spitfire transformed and hovered over the tanker. "What ho there?" he called down, in a Bertie Wooster-esque fashion.

"Just an Evangelion" Shinji said over his built in comm link.

"Righto. Name's Highflyer. Care for a lift to the carrier, either of you?" he asked.

"Sure." Shinji said.

"Hop on." Highflyer said, transforming back into a spitfire and opening his canopy.

Shinji waved at Asuka and got into Highflyer. Asuka oddly enough had enough restraint to keep from flipping him off as he left.

"Said I was mucking up her Eva anyway." Shinji said.

"No pleasing some people, I suppose." Highflyer said, as he winged his way back to the carrier.

"Devil Girl is ready to rock, repeat Devil Girl is ready to rock." Shinji said over the comm.

Eva 02 awakened like a forgotten warrior and jumped onto ships to get to the carrier.

"Primus is that thing ugly." Starsaber said.

"You said it, skipper." Highflyer said, as Shinji got onto the carrier. He was glad Asuka didn't hear the Autobots comments on her Eva, or she'd likely start fighting them instead of the Angel.

Shinji linked his scanners with the ones on the Shuttle and scanned the Angel. It was an amazing feeling to him to be able to do that. It also nearly gave him information overload.

"It's using the AT field to reinforce its hide." Shinji said.

Shinji also noted several gashes in the Angel's hide. It seemed that what it was doing wasn't enough to reinforce it against Starsaber's sword. And this Angel didn't come with a healing factor.

Then the 6th Angel dove as fast as it could. Starsaber was slammed into the water and lost track of the Angel. The Autobots tried to scan for it and the massive Angel leaped into the air and crushed one of the ships of the fleet.

"I'm going to need a bigger spear." Asuka muttered.

Huffer's torso opened up and he unleashed a barrage of missiles at Gaghiel. The Angel cried out in pain and got back into the depths of ocean. Asuka blinked for a moment. She couldn't believe that annoying robot was so heavily armed.

"And where do you think you're going?" Brawn said to Kaji.

The triple agent found his way to a jet blocked. He then saw that the runway was blocked by the Autobot Shuttle. He knew he had to get away but was sure any excuse he had to give would not fly with the Autobots.

"You know you can't really stop me." Kaji said.

"Ask me if I care." Brawn commented.

"Autobots get off the runway." Sideswipe heard on the radio.

"Fine by me." Sideswipe said as he took off and the shuttle strafed the 6th Angel.

The 6th Angel went as fast as it could and tried to collide with the Autobot Shuttle and Sideswipe managed to swerve out of the way of it. The massive belly flop of the Angel covered the decks of all the ships in water.

Kaji had a death grip on his suitcase and was glad that Brawn kept him from falling off the side of the deck. Causing 3rd Impact was something he definitely didn't want to do.

"That thing better be slagging important." Huffer said.

"The suitcase or Kaji?" Misato asked.

"Either."

Misato was tempted to tell Brawn to throw Kaji back. So very tempted. Kaji groaned when he saw the look on Misato's face. Or Brawn's smirk.

Starsaber fired his head mounted laser machine guns at the 6th Angel. The Angel screamed as one of them hit his eye. Ironhide and Sideswipe got a good look inside the mouth of the Angel.

Misato shouted, "Where's the core?!"

"Ironhide says it's in....its mouth?!" Shinji said.

"So, make it say ahh, then feed it a pain sandwich. Gotcha." Brawn said.

Brawn transformed into hummer SUV mode. He revved up his engine and was ready for what he had to do.

Starsaber drove his sword deep into the Angel's back and it screamed in pain. Dark grey blood flowed out of the wound. Starsaber hit a major artery with his Saberblade.

Brawn gunned it into the open mouth. When he passed the lips he transformed back to robot mode. Inside the creature's mouth he hammered on the core. He kept on hitting it until it was completely shattered.

"Anyone got a net?" he called.

"Well time to head back to the barn Devil Girl." Shinji said hacking into the Eva comm system.

A stream of foul German was his response. Shinji's eyes widened as he got a translation of that displayed as a HUD.

"You actually kiss people with that mouth?" Shinji asked.

Asuka glared at him from within her Evangelion. She was really starting to dislike Shinji. He wasn't quite as bad as she imagined him to be but he made her want to use her prong knife on him.

Misato groaned. "Damn... She needs a chill pill."

"Agreed." Shinji said "Or at least a boyfriend."

"I don't care what you do as long as I don't have to watch." Huffer said.

"Are you volunteering?" she asked.

Shinji said "I can't stand her and I'll move into the Ark if I have to deal with her on a daily basis."

"Brawn will help you move your stuff." Ramhorn said "As would I if I had hands."

"I don't think the Sub-Commander will allow that to happen." she smiled.

"Plus I have a place at Kensuke's house." Shinji said "Plus the Autobots consider me one of them."

"I mean that, as much as you're one of them, you're still officially on the books at NERV, and he won't allow Asuka to bully you." Misato said.

"It's not so much bullying as dealing with her on a daily basis would wind up with me kicking her ass." Shinji said.

"Ah... Fair enough then." she said.

"I'd rather just not deal with her." Shinji said "At all frankly. But I can put up with her if I can keep it just at work."

"I'll talk with him, and see what we can do." she said.

"Aren't you going to have to deal with her at school?" Brawn asked.

"I forgot about that." Shinji groaned.

"Always tell her you got a girlfriend already." Brawn said "I'm sure Rei won't mind helping you with that."

"She's not my..." Shinji groaned "Why does everyone think that?"

"Why not?" Brawn said.

Shinji groaned and then noticed Kaji making his way to one of the jets. He wondered why he was trying to leave and what was in that briefcase.

"Hey Kaji." Shinji asked "You going somewhere in a hurry?"

"Yeah... Kinda a long story, but your dad wants some papers I got in here." he said, tapping his case. "I gotta get going."

"Righttttt." Shinji said.

"These are important papers that people would kill me for." Kaji said.

"Then how come there's a living being in there going by my sensors?" Starsaber asked. Kaji gulped. He thought the briefcase was shielded against Transformers.

"Hand it over." Shinji insisted.

"I really can't." Kaji said "Commander's orders."

"Well I'm a Commander." Starsaber said "And I think you should hand it over."

"Or we can call General Toru and I'm sure he'll back us on this." Misato commented.

"They don't have the rank for this secret."Kaji said smoothly. Though inside he felt his chances of working with the Autobots slip away.

"Kaji do you think the greatest swordsman in the galaxy gives a slag about that?" Huffer asked. "Or any of us."

"Or that any ship here can outrun the Autobots?" Misato stated.

"And they so want to start a war with all of humanity while fighting the Decepticons?" Kaji said.

"Grimlock would in a nanosecond." Starsaber stated "Be glad I'm not him."

Kaji was very glad that he wasn't dealing with Grimlock. Kaji felt all their eyes on him as he boarded his plane. He knew that the Autobots would watch him like a hawk, and get MAGI to help them in that.

Inwardly Kaji cursed Gendo Ikari for the position he put him into. He couldn't show them Adam without the fall out being so dangerous that the world might be destroyed but now they were onto him and wondering what living being was in the briefcase.

Kaji wondered how big of a hit Asuka's ego was going to take because of her lack of a role in defeating the 6th Angel. And to make it worse Shinji or Rei weren't even directly involved. It was all the Autobots.

If anything got Asuka's goat these days was that the Transformers were what everyone was talking about. Even the Evangelions got linked more to the Transformers now as Wheeljack provided quantum leaps to them with the energon reactors and a host of other internal improvements and some very interesting melee weapons.

And the compressed air guns that were based off the compressed air jets that were strong enough to keep one of the smaller Autobots airborne.

Kaji was going hand Asuka back to Misato and hope his apartment would be on the other side of town. The warpath Asuka would go on would be ugly. And from rumors Sideswipe was a prankster and Shinji's best friend. Worlds would collide and not in a good way.

-

Sixknight came out of transwarp into the Solar System. He knew in his spark those he wished to fight were in this backwater system. He could almost taste his excitement at proving himself against some of the greatest Transformers ever known.


	11. Chapter 11

"All this stuff is yours?" Shinji said as he saw the boxes and boxes of stuff. Shinji jokingly wondered if they needed the fleet of ships for her stuff as much as they did to haul her Evangelion.

Rei looked shocked at the Second Child's vast amount of stuff. She couldn't believe any person could have so many belongings. Rei doubted it'd all even fit into her old apartment.

"Asuka you are aware this is an apartment...not a house." Shinji asked.

Asuka waved her hand. "Oh, it's just a few knick knacks I couldn't bare to leave back in Germany, Third."

"A few?" Brawn asked as he started bench pressing a box.

"But of course." she said

"Why are you moving into this apartment?" Shinji asked "Really what nutcase is behind this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Brawn said "Commander Gendo Ikari."

Shinji sighed. He really wondered what anyone was thinking sticking all three pilots into one place. This apartment wasn't made for that many people. Asuka also wasn't what he'd call the best house guest. At least if she had the same attitude about hogging the bathroom as she did being the best Eva pilot.

"Oh she's going to be great to live with." Shinji said.

"I'm just wondering how she intends to fit all this into that apartment." Brawn asked.

"Easy." Asuka said, strolling into Shinji's room and casually boxing up all his stuff and moving it out.

"I see you follow the golden rule." Shinji said sarcastically.

The next thing that was taken out was Shinji's cello. At this point Shinji had enough of Asuka to last him a month. Honestly was she the best they could find? Her arrogant personality was likely to get them all killed. And made her not someone he wanted to spend time outside of work and school with. Her casual moving out of his stuff wasn't helping either.

"Rei the urge to poison her is rising." Shinji said.

"Would you like assistance?" Rei asked.

"Yes, yes I would." Shinji replied.

"Talk about making friends." Brawn joked "I can see why they threw a party when she left Berlin-2."

"Asuka you do realize you're getting a roommate." Shinji said.

"Yeah?" she said, as the last of Shinji's stuff was out of the way, and she began moving her stuff in.

"Since you don't want me as a roommate...you get her." Shinji said. Asuka grumbled when she realized there were four people now staying in the apartment.

"Rei let's just move to our guest rooms at Kensuke's place." Shinji said "Honestly I am not going to put up with this. At least not without Grapple expanding the apartment. "

"Agreed." Rei said. She honestly had no attachments to Misato's apartment and knew whatever their guest rooms would be clean, modern, and having a working hot water tank. Rei considered it a bit selfish but she had grown to like having hot water whenever she wanted it.

"Wow if this is how you treat guys I can't see how you'd ever get a date." Brawn commented.

Shinji and Rei packed up their belongings. Neither had a lot of stuff so it didn't take long for them to be ready to go. Shinji hoped Misato was going to take the news well but knew that Gendo and NERV might think he was running away. Brawn's holoavatar got the door for the two pilots.

As they left Asuka said "I wonder if I'll be able to get a walk in closet after the make over."

"I'll be sure to ask Grapple to put that into the floor plan." Brawn said before closing the door.

Awhile later Misato came home and found it oddly quiet. Asuka was the only person in the apartment.

"Where are Shinji and Rei?" Misato asked.

"Robot Otaku and Wondergirl went their guest rooms until they can get the Autobots to give this place a make over." Asuka commented.

"They are his friends." Misato noted "I just hope Section 2 didn't bother him." Misato knew that Shinji tended to deal with unwanted people by having Grand Slam transform and point his turret at them. And she didn't even want to think about what Raindance did to the first telemarketer that tried to call Shinji.

Asuka was jealous of that. Being younger then everyone else at the university and an Eva pilot she couldn't connect with anyone else and make friends. Shinji had friends literally fall out of the sky and change everything. And back him in a fight that she had been told only she could fight with her giant robot. And give him a really cool battle axe too!

And she had to admit Rei's sword was kind of cool too. And all she got was a prong knife on a stick. Something that should have been standard issue way before the Transformers showed up. It wasn't a in hindsight good idea weapon. It was a common sense weapon. She should have had that weapon since day one.

"Still we better go see him." Misato said "Knowing the commander he would think that Shinji and Rei ran away."

Asuka commented "Why would the Commander think that?"

"Let's just say trust in Commander Gendo Ikari has been sinking like a rock." Misato said "The man gets compared to several Decepticons for a reason."

"So do I." Asuka grumbled remembering that she'd been compared to Starscream.

"Oh they told you about how you're as arrogant as Starscream?" Misato asked.

"I have no idea who he is but I get the feeling it isn't flattering." Asuka grumbled.

"From what I've heard he was a scientist and elected mayor of one of the cities." Misato said "And one of the most arrogant back stabbers in the universe."

"They think I'm that arrogant?" Asuka replied "I don't know to be insulted or flattered."

Misato rolled her eyes "Come on we have to get going."

Asuka got her coat and shoes on and outside they ran into someone that Asuka thought was a college age man. If her eyes turned to hearts, no one would be surprised. Asuka walked over to him and started talking to him.

Misato nearly had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Asuka was hitting on Sideswipe's holoavatar. Asuka assumed that he was the older college age type of men she dated. And he was anything but like them.

Sideswipe wondered why Asuka was being so nice to him. She seemed to think herself superior to Shinji as an Eva pilot and that he needed the help of the Autobots was a major flaw on his part. Frankly Asuka reminded him way too much of Power Magnus. And no one really liked that arrogant Autobot. Even if he did beat Bruticus once in a fight.

"I'm sorry Asuka but I don't want to date you." Sideswipe said "You're mean, arrogant, and frankly not my type. Or species for that matter."

"Huh?" Asuka said clearly confused. What was he talking about? And why was he turning her down?

"There I am now." Sideswipe pointed at a red Dodge Viper.

"Vas?!" Asuka yelled "Is any man in this city not a Transformer?"

Sideswipe's holoavatar faded away and he transformed into robot mode.

"Holoavatar. If you read up on us you'd know about that." Sideswipe said "Of course you think Shinji having our help makes him weak. Courage, hope for the future and teamwork...those are the words of Primus."

"You've all mentioned Primus several times but what he is?" Misato asked.

"He's our god." Sideswipe said.

"You...you have a god?!" Asuka yelled.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Sideswipe asked.

"Well you're robots. We thought you'd all be logical and into things you can physically experience." Asuka replied.

"I could open my chest up and show you my spark if I wanted to." Sideswipe commented "You call them souls."

Asuka was shocked into silence. She had no idea a race of robots could have souls. Misato had an inkling of an idea of this as Shinji had told her that the Transformers have faith. She didn't imagine it involved having deities. Or involve them having souls.

"Though please don't ask me to tell you everything about Primus." Sideswipe said "I'm a warrior not a priest."

"Where any of you priests before the war?" Misato asked.

"No." Sideswipe said "Though after he got the Matrix Optimus is considered the high priest of Primus. And don't make any Matrix jokes. Seriously just don't."

Asuka was trying to absorb the crazy information she had just heard. She then realized she had been basing her opinions off TV and movies. She then mused exactly how long it'd take a Church of Primus to rise on Earth after people found about whatever the Transformers called their religion. She then imagined the response of some people for having an alien religion exist in the first place. Even after Second Impact there were those that hated other religions. And finding out there was a religion that predated the human race would make them very angry.

Though the fact the Decepticons had managed to create zombies was still causing shockwaves among the various religions. It was a hot topic and pretty much everyone found it completely and utterly disgusting.

"So she's why they moved isn't she?" Sideswipe asked Misato.

"Yes." Misato said "She wanted the biggest room. And removed Shinji's things to take it. And then she found out that she'd have to share a room with Rei if she got that." Misato gave Asuka an annoyed look.

Asuka put up a brave front and looked unmoved by that glare. It wasn't her fault for being moved into an apartment that was completely full. She wanted to live with Kaji anyway.

"They both went to the guest rooms Hoist made for them." Sideswipe said "And after seeing Rei had a duffel bag of stuff Hikari took Rei out shopping."

"So who got to drive them around?" Misato asked.

"Skids." Sideswipe said.

"Who?" Misato asked.

"The guy that turns into a Scion xB." Sideswipe said "He's pretty quiet, though seems to enjoy having women wash him. It's a long story."

"I see..." Misato said. She wondered what that was all about.

"Though Shinji avoided having to shopping since he was getting his stuff unpacked in his guest room." Sideswipe said "I know you want to talk to him."

"Thanks." Misato said.

The two noticed a great deal of construction going on around the Ark. It seems the Autobots were building a major news station outside of Newstown as the make shift housing of the horde of reporters that lived close by the Ark was called. Though there were rumors of them getting an apartment complex built to house them all.

They were also building a spaceport for Galaxy Shuttle to land at. And also fixing up the Teddy Bear Museum.

As always Misato was shocked that for stalking the Autobots Kensuke got his own house. Misato wondered how Asuka would take one of the "three losers" having such a nice place. It didn't take them long to find a door with "Shinji" written on it.

Misato knocked on it.

"Hi Misato." Shinji said as he opened to his guest room. Misato wondered if the room he was seeing was a guest room what Kensuke's bedroom looked like. The guest room was really an apartment. They were in the main room which was the kitchen/living room. Down the hall was the bathroom, a bed room and two other rooms.

"I was going to ask you to come back but...wow." Misato said.

"It's not that I don't like you." Shinji said "Because I do. I just that four people in a space meant for three is bad. Especially if they'll probably hog the bathroom. "

"Hey!" Asuka yelled.

"Oh and check this out." Shinji said.

Shinji's SDAT and cell phone transformed and merged together. Slamdance looked a bit annoyed with Asuka. Asuka laughed and then hid behind Misato. Misato wondered how many people Grandslam and Raindance had stopped from hitting Shinji.

Slamdance also explained why the rooms of the apartment had high ceilings.

"Lucky." Asuka said. Those two were better body guards then Section 2.

"I know." Shinji said "You have no idea how easy it is to deal with fangirls with them."

"Plus you have Rei." Slamdance commented. Shinji groaned.

"Please come in and sit down." Shinji said "I'll have to tell you what they are talking about Asuka."

"It's really funny." Misato said with a grin.

Misato and Asuka sat on the sofa while Shinji explained why the Transformers seemed to think Rei was his girlfriend. By the time he finished Asuka giggled. Shinji had no idea what to do with women and Asuka doubted his friends could help him there.

"So you had to literally fall on a girl to get a girlfriend?" Asuka asked "Just keep the noise down and I don't care what you two do."

Shinji blush was as red as Sideswipe's paint job.

"Unless you're into older women." Asuka said "Or Misato is a shotacon."

"I've never heard of that faction." Slamdance said.

Shinji sat down. Misato held Shinji in a tight embrace. Shinji for a moment wondered Misato and Rei knew what personal space was.

"Oh you found me out." Misato said as she hammed it up "We've tried to keep our love a secret."

"No we're not buying it either." Slamdance said as Asuka looked at them.

"You're no fun." Misato grumbled.

"Should I be jealous?" Rei asked from the door. Everyone turned and saw that Rei, Hikari, Touji and Kensuke were back. A very geeky looking guy who could pass for Kensuke's older brother or cousin was also there. The men and the Transformer holoavatar were holding up a lot of bags of clothes and other items.

"Probably not." Slamdance said "Misato is a very hammy actress."

"In the name of the Moon." Misato said "I'll..."

"What is she talking about?" Asuka asked Shinji.

"I have no idea." Shinji admitted.

"You have no respect for the classics." Misato complained.

"Grimlock likes Gundam." Slamdance said "The original and 8th MS team the most."

"And Wheeljack likes Star Trek?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah." Slamdance said "We all find a bit humancentric but hey when the only species you know about is yourselves."

"And didn't they want a Transformer to be in a new Predator movie?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah they wanted someone to be a head and spine on a wall." Slamdance said. Asuka looked at them oddly. They were asked to be in a movie yet no one offered her anything? Not that she'd be able to do so while the Angels were lurking out there but she'd like to at least be asked.

"That does remind me," Shinji commented "We need to get the movie rights to this war Asuka."

Asuka looked at him with a wide eyed expression and knew Shinji was right. And she wondered who if anyone had the movie rights at the moment. She also wondered if any of them where going to have parts in the rumored Transformers movie.

"Think they could get Megan Fox to play me?" Misato asked.

"Who?" Asuka asked.

"You really think we'll get a movie already?" Slamdance asked.

"Well you have fought off the Decepticons, a zombie invasion and a few Angels." Misato noted.

"It's enough to make you want to sleep with a gun under your pillow," Asuka said "For all the good that'll do."

"No kidding and you'll never believe what I learned." Shinji said.

"What is that?" Misato asked.

"That there is life on Titan. Humanoid organic life." Shinji replied "The moon has a breathable atmosphere and climate."

"But...but that's impossible!" Asuka said "It's too far from the sun for one."

"It also has an atmosphere that's too thick for us to see the surface of the moon from orbit." Misato commented.

"And it'll give scientists fits." Shinji noted "Like what they learned about Cybertron."

"Rits still thinks that planet shouldn't exist." Misato said "Then again flies should be able to fly either and they do."

"Exactly." Shinji said.

Rei thought about what her place in HIP was and Gendo's plans. And while she was connected to everyone she had no connection to the Transformers. Or life on Titan for that matter. At this point Rei wouldn't be surprised if there were other sentient forms of life on Earth she didn't know about.

Personally Rei felt that all of Gendo's plans went out the window when the Transformers showed up. And that sooner or later NERV's secrets would become known to the Autobots. Rei was fairly sure they really won't care either way about her secrets. If anything her being created made her closer them.

Gendo however would likely get tried, and put in front of a firing squad. Or Slag's mouth. Rei wasn't sure how the Autobots dealt with those matters but she was sure they'd figure out something that would kill Commander Ikari.

"Earth to Wonder Girl." Asuka said "You really are collecting a lot of robots Shinji."

Everyone human rolled their eyes at that.

"They wanted to be my friends Asuka." Shinji said "And they are the ones that'll make the apartment bigger and give you a walk in closet for all your stuff."

Asuka remembered that and realized it would be a good idea to not annoy them.

-

Henry Masters grinned like a maniac. His coworkers couldn't tell the difference. However they could tell when after entering the Seeker his headmaster control unit was on ripped free of its bonds and took off he was up to something.

Headmaster ripped open a door meant for cargo trucks and smashed his way through any barriers that got in his way. They were all like cardboard to him as he blasted and ripped his way to the surface.

Everyone knew that they were going to have to move to a new location after this. Even if Masters ratted them out in his internet lingo. The most sadistic of them wondered what Commander Ikari was going to do to Masters after the Autobots stopped him.

Masters himself came out of a warehouse on the outskirts of the city and took off. He flew Superman style looking around for something to trash. He soon found a group of Autobots fixing up a heavy damaged part of downtown. There were rumors of zombies still being around in it and was why they had been sent in first.

So far no zombies. Which was annoying Sunstreaker.

"Why in Primus's name do we have to be doing construction work?" Sunstreaker grumbled "This isn't what I became an Autobot for."

"It helps get us in the good grace of the locals who are afraid of zombies being here." Smokescreen commented. Sunstreaker gave Smokescreen a wary glance.

"Right." Sunsteaker said "We get to be their canaries. What a load of slag."

"Not all of us mind this." Hound commented as he moved some rubble.

Windcharger ignored Sunstreaker and lifted the rubble with his magnetic powers. He created a few piles for easy recycling. The metal was easy to melt down and reuse for other things. Suddenly there were laser blasts striking around them.

Headmaster strafed the Autobots. However moving while at subsonic speeds and hitting a target was something he had trouble with. Hound clipped him and sent Headmaster through a building.

"Who gave him that head?" Sunstreaker asked.

"I'm going to pwn you noobs!" Headmaster bellowed. The Autobots had no idea what he just said to them. Sunstreaker replied to him by blasting the Seeker in the cockpit and sending glass flying everywhere. A piece of it slashed the Headmaster unit in the cheek.

Windcharger used his magnetic powers to bind the limbs of the controlled Seeker body to itself, and Masters struggled to make his robot move.

The bright green Seeker body Headmaster then used the two lasers on the sides of the cockpit. Something Sunstreaker found out the hard way as he got blasted by one of them. Windcharge was then blasted and Masters got free.

Headmaster was really happy when he found one of the wings turned into a sword by accident.

"Total pwnage!" Masters crackled.

The mad scientist was then thrown back by Windcharger. Headmaster was then bound by pipes magnetically bent and attached to the the Seeker body.

"Thanks." Hound said.

"No problem." Windcharger said "I wanted to shut that tricursed loser up."

"I just wonder if it's some kind of parasite it is." Sunstreaker said "Given it can't be human. I mean no human being talks like that."

They then heard the pipes snap and Headmaster was free again. He charged at Windcharger with his sword and found using a ferrous sword against Windcharger was a horrible idea. He found himself stopped short of his goal with Hound and Sunsteaker pointing their blasters at his head.

"I do it for the lols!" Headmaster yelled.

That made Windcharger loose his concentration trying to decipher what in Primus's name Headmaster was talking about. Headmaster stabbed Windcharger through the chest with his sword. He pulled out the sword and Windcharger hit the ground with a loud thud.

"That's not good." Smokescreen commented.

"He runs on insanity?"Hound said "Guess sometimes crazy works."

Sunstreaker punched the face of the Headmaster unit. There was an impression left by that. Sunstreaker then sweep kicked the controlled Seeker and sent it flying into the pavement. Sunstreaker wasn't a martial artist but he knew from experience where the joints on a Seeker were and sank his fingers into the arm joint and tried to break it.

With his other arm Headmaster knocked Sunstreaker into the side of a ice cream shop that was under construction. Sunstreaker looked angry. His paint job had been messed up by that. And to be honest that annoying little slagger in the head was annoying him.

Smokescreen hit the insane genius with his shoulder missiles and sent Headmaster flying through the air. He followed up with a laser blast from his rifle.

Hound blasted Headmaster in the leg. Given he wasn't transforming the Seeker body, Hound figured he could limit the parasite controlling the body's movement that way. Then suddenly Optimus Prime appeared to be driving at Headmaster. He dodged out of the way and right in Sunstreaker's line of sight as the hologram of Optimus faded away.

Headmaster was knocked back but didn't seem to mind it very much.

Bwahahaha." Headmaster yelled "You noobs can't stop me."

"Does anyone understand what the slag he's saying?" Hound said to Smokescreen.

"I have no idea what he's saying." Smokescreen replied "But I know how to shut him up." Smokescreen transformed and emitted a magnetized cloud of smoke.

"Can't see!" Headmaster yelled and suddenly a fist came out the torso of the Seeker body he was using.

"You still want some?" Grimlock said. He then ripped the Headmaster unit off the Seeker body. There was a shower of sparks and the lifeless body hit the ground with a loud clang.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush you." Grimlock snarled.

Headmaster looked like he was having trouble keeping from soiling himself.

"There's a human in there?" Smokescreen said in surprise.

"It sure doesn't speak anything I can understand." Hound said "Let's give his head to Wheeljack and take him down to the police station."

"But how do we get him out?" Sunstreaker said.

Grimlock had the answer by glaring at Masters and yelling "Get out!"

Only if Masters was on fire could he have gotten out of the unit faster.

-

Wheeljack looked at the Aston Martin Vanquish and the scans of Masters Headmaster unit he had taken.. He had an idea and wondered if Misato would want to help him with something.


	12. Chapter 12

General Toru stormed into Gendo's office like a force of nature. In his hands were Asuka's psychological profile. The general looked at Gendo and said "What kind of utterly insane organization are you trying to run Ikari?"

Fuyutsuki jumped in surprise. "General Toru? What's the matter?"

"I looked over the profile of the Second Child," Toru said "Was getting psychological therapy for her after finding her mother's corpse hanging in her room to expensive? Not to mention the fact she'd seen her mother fall into the depths of insanity."

Fuyutsuki had a look at the files for himself, and his eyes widened in disbelief. He was aware that the Second Child was a bit arrogant to say the least and proud to be an Eva pilot but he wasn't aware they covered deeper psychological issues. Though he was sure that it didn't matter to Gendo as long as the Second Child was usable for his plans.

"We're only trusting her with a huge and armed giant robot," Toru said sarcastically "No reason to make sure she's mentally stable."

"The Marduk Institute considered that a necessary gamble." Gendo said, calm in the face of the General's storm of fury.

"You mean you considered it a necessary gamble," Toru said "Don't lie to me on your shell organization Ikari."

While General Toru couldn't legally do anything against Gendo over his various shell companies, he could make it clear that he didn't consider them to be anything more then just Gendo giving his opinion. And to Toru Gendo's opinion wasn't worth much.

"Do not attempt to cow me, General Toru." Gendo said, his glasses flashing in the light from his desk lamp.

"I'd have brought Grimlock with me if I was going to do Ikari," Toru snarled "And don't get me started on Henry Masters. Really Ikari that maniac might be brilliant but I'm surprised Doctor Akagi didn't use one of his eye sockets as an ashtray."

Gendo smiled. "It has been said that the border line between Genius and Madness is sometimes extremely fine, General."

"And you of course won't know what one of your former brilliant scientists was doing with a Decepticon body now would you?" Toru commented "Those things aren't exactly for sale at the grocery store."

"It couldn't be worse than deciding to become a James Bondian super villain and designing doomsday weapons in his spare time."

General Toru snorted.

"Of course the Autobots managed to recover video footage of the first activation test of Eva 01," Toru said "I noticed the First Child was on hand for that."

Behind his clasped hands, Gendo's smirk fell. Those damnable Autobots were damaging his position again! And he thought he deleted the first activation of Eva 01 from the files. Though had admitted he hadn't erased it as fully as Rei's files had been but he still considered it too far gone for anyone to reconstruct it.

"Did you bury the mop and bucket they had to use to clean up your wife at her grave site Ikari?" Toru asked in a soft and quiet tone.

Gendo was not usually a man given to emotion, but this taunt about Yui was more than he could take. He openly glared at General Toru. He then plotted General Toru's demise.

"And do you want all the pilots to be mentally messed up Ikari?" Toru commented "NERV is supposed to save the world, not look like the inside of a mental hospital."

Fuyutsuki looked between the two men repeatedly. He was hoping this won't come to blows given that would not help the credibility of NERV.

"And I thank whatever deity sent the Transformers here before the UN handed you complete control over the Angel conflict." Toru said and then smiled "Though I guess thanking Primus might be in order."

Gendo willed himself to be calm now. And noted to learn all he could on this 'Primus' that the General mentioned.

"Though you might need to pray whenever you and your wife are reunited Ikari." Toru said "I might not have known Yui Ikari, but if I did any of the shit you did with my children after my Kari died....well our reunion in the afterlife would involve me being shoved into a meat grinder."

Gendo nearly choked at that, but managed to disguise it with admirable speed. Fuyutsuki thought about what Toru said and realized that he was right. Yui was going to be insanely pissed how he treated their son. Gendo was so focused on getting her back that he never thought about if his actions would make her want to be around him or shoot him in the face with a shotgun.

"And do I even want to know why the First Child has been more robotic then our allies?" Toru asked "Or why a whole wardrobe has been purchased for her?"

"On whose doing?" Fuyutsuki asked, curious.

"One of their friends took her shopping." General Toru said "The class rep for their class at school. Good kid from what I heard from the Autobots."

The General then saw a small smile cross the Vice-Commander's lips. "I wondered why that had appeared on the books."

"Wonder if she'll get bodyguards like the Third Child has," Toru mused out loud "Nothing beats having a tank at your command and in your pocket."

Both men quietly enjoyed Gendo's reactions. Gendo's frown deepened and his eyes narrowed a bit. It wasn't much but they were able to tell he was extremely annoyed by the mention of Grand Slam.

Gendo loathed that Shinji had two Autobots as protectors. Any attempt to use Section 2 Agents to intimate him went down the drain when he could easily have a jet fighter or tank or have an upright and full size Autobot at his beck and call.

Diplomatically, Fuyutsuki stepped in. "I'll personally arrange for the Second Child to receive counseling, General."

"And I might just pistol whip the commander here if I find out the rest of the Children are crazy." Toru said. And they could tell he wasn't kidding.

Kozo couldn't help but snort in agreement. Regardless of what SEELE or Gendo's plans were it didn't look good for them for the Children to psychologically unstable.

"Oh and I approve of the First and Third Child dating." Toru commented.

Gendo's scowl deepened. That was not in his plans.

"Though I do wonder why all the pilots are in the same apartment." Toru said "Given we now have to pay Grapple to take out a wall and fix up the place for them."

"Teamwork," Gendo said, smiling enigmatically.

"Right." Toru said with a straight face "So does that mean you wish to pay the bill out of your personal funds?"

Gendo was starting to think of Grapple as the fourth most annoying thing to him. Behind Optimus Prime, Wheeljack and energon. The Autobot builder had been making the city out of alloys that made anything else look like paper, and installing weapons that were impressive. Weapons that weren't under his direct control.

"Or rather we pay Hoist or Hauler." Toru said "Grapple is busy rebuilding one of the malls. The zombies trashed it completely."

"Well, I'm sure we could pay him out of the taxes for building and using city property." Fuyutsuki said.

"What about Captain Katsuragi?" Toru asked "Are we sure it's a good idea for her to be guardian of all the pilots?"

"That was Katsuragi's idea." Fuyutsuki said. "She thought it best that the Children were all in one place, so that they can be looked after more effectively."

He seemed to wrestle with something on his conscience for a moment. Things were not going as SEELE or Gendo planned. It was giving hope for the future, and that Yui Ikari's death wasn't in vain.

"And I should pistol whip you Ikari for the First Child's living conditions prior to her current ones," Toru said "And the fact you lost all records and files on her worries me."

Gendo was quiet as he considered ways to turn this to his favor. And realized as the First Child's guardian and personally assigned those quarters to her it would be hard to spin this to look good.

"I honestly can't see why anyone would put you in command of NERV," General Toru commented "You can't even raise the two children in your care. Even more so when they're supposed to be the ones dealing the giant monsters after us."

"I'm sorry that you think I have time to personally supervise children old enough in this modern world to take care of themselves. I had a small problem of building up NERV to have the power to defeat the Angels in spite of petty military bureaucracies and backstabbing politics in the fall of mankind after Second Impact." Gendo said.

"To this day I still have no idea how you managed to sell the UN on funding building giant robots that only select teenagers can pilot," Toru said "Honestly was that the best idea any of you had after playing Super Robot Wars?"

"And your forces were so effective against it." Gendo idly commented. Toru bristled at that.

"Of course you were willing to play out anime cliches with your son." Toru snapped back.

General Toru then stormed out of Gendo's office and Gendo again was annoyed with the Transformers. By now he was supposed to be in complete command of the war with the Angels and effectively the only oversight he'd have would be the Old Men. And he knew how to play the game with them.

At school Asuka had conflicting feelings. She was a bit annoyed at the various boys of the school sending her letters and other things to get her attention, yet it seemed like it wasn't what it would be if the Transformers weren't here. It seemed like Shinji still was regarded like he was a rock star or something.

She gave the 3rd Child a look over, wondering what it was that made him so attractive. Though the fact he was the first person to make contact with an alien species and able to back it up probably helped. He didn't lord that fact over everyone and Asuka found that to be strange.

She continued to size him up

"What do they see in him?' she asked herself.

"Shinji is brave, has powerful allies, and very generous friends." Rei said right behind Asuka.

Asuka started at that She turned to look at Rei. The First Child appeared to have taken some of Hikari's advice. Her hair looked a bit shiner then before, and she appeared to be wearing red lipstick and nail polish. Even Asuka had to admit, she looked far better than she had before.

"What was that, First?' she asked.

"You wondered what everyone sees in Shinji." Rei stated "Which unlike you doesn't have his photo on a dart board in the office of an exgirlfriend like your crush does."

Asuka blinked at that, not quite knowing what to say.

"That wasn't the nicest thing to say." Hikari commented, hoping Rei's blunt manner and Asuka's temper won't cause them to come to blows. Asuka just nodded.

"Her talk of Agent Ryouji grows tiresome." Rei stated. To be honest Rei couldn't see what Asuka thought was so great about Kaji. To her he was a secret agent with a bit of a James Bond fetish and not very interesting.

Asuka got annoyed at that.

It was then that Raindance and the other pilot's cell phones rang.

"Hello?" Shinji asked.

"This Blaster coming at you. We got another angel incoming." Blaster said.

"Thanks." Shinji said.

"No problem." Blaster said.

The three made their way down to the school gates. Asuka looked like she was eager to prove herself against this Angel. Something that Brawn had denied her before. And that honestly annoyed the crap out of Asuka. She was to be the one to stop the Angels, not a bunch of aliens.

A blue Corvette Z06 and a red Honda S2000 drove up to the gates. Misato was "driving" the Honda S2000.

"Hey guys." she called, waving to them.

"Must be a big deal." Shinji said "When they send the fastest guy and the one that can fly."

"I'll fill you in on the way there." Misato said.

Shinji and Rei got into Tracks. Asuka got into Windcharger and wondered if she picked the fast one or the one that could fly. When Windcharger went from zero to sixty instantly she had her answer. Asuka idly wondered what riding on the Autobahn would be like in Windcharger.

"Okay, the 7th Angel has been detected approaching from offshore and from the south." Misato said. "As yet, we're not 100% sure of what it is capable of, but given the name of it, we should prepare for the unexpected."

"This one doesn't have a nuclear reactor right?" Shinji asked as his face came up in a monitor on Windcharger's dashboard.

"Not that I know of, but still, when you do face it, be careful, okay, guys? No stupid heroics or anything."

"So you don't want them to act like Wreckers?" Tracks joked.

"Given a name like that, no. Beside, I've grown accustomed to you guys. It'd be a bore to have to get acquainted with a new group of pilots." she joked.

"And they could give Kensuke the job." Windcharger joked.

"No thanks." Asuka said with a shudder.

"He's not that bad." Shinji said "Touji said he used to be a lot worse."

Asuka shuddered again, trying to imagine that. "Himmel..." she muttered.

"It's not pretty." Windcharger commented.

"Agreed." Asuka said for once, as they approached NERV.

The interesting thing to Asuka was that everyone that they passed in the cars seemed to think nothing of the Autobots. That working with giant alien robots was routine now. Of course given that they were fighting giant monsters with their own giant robots this sort of thing wasn't that difficult to take.

"Amazing how normal this is now, isn't it?" Misato commented

Windcharger laughed.

"Sorry MAGI just told me a funny joke." Windcharger stated.

"Care to share?"Shinji asked

"It loses something in translation to Japanese." Windcharger admitted.

"Ah..."

"That's a shame." Misato said given she wondered what MAGI and the Autobots told jokes about.

The pilots and Misato soon reached the Eva bay and saw Wheeljack finishing up something on Eva 02.

"Hey, Wheeljack!" Misato called. "What are you up to there?"

Asuka began to swell up in outrage at someone messing with her Eva unit. Even if it was Wheeljack. Her perfect production model Eva became outdated and a test piece to see if humans could copy his modifications thanks to him.

"Having to fix a few things," Wheeljack said "The energon pump was slightly off."

"Energon Pump?" Misato asked, covering Asuka's mouth to keep her from blowing her top.

"It circulates the Energon like the human heart does with blood." Wheeljack said "And make the Evangelion's mission time to be measured in years."

"Right," Misato said. "Now get ready you three, that Angel isn't going to sit around politely waiting for you."

The three Children went off and quickly suited up and were ready to fight the Angel.

Misato in the meantime made her way up to the Command Deck. "Staus Report," she said "Do we have visual on the Angel yet?"

"Bring up visual now." Makoto Hyuga said. And they got a great shot of Starsaber throwing his sword like a boomerang and cutting off one of the arms of the angel. They noticed that there was no blood or even any bones sticking out of the arm. It was like the Angel was just a shaped pile of flesh. It was like this Angel was an evil giant version of Gumby.

Misato gazed intently at the Angel, before leaning over. "Is it possible to scan the Angel, try to ascertain what its' capabilities might be?"

"MAGI said that's possible." Maya said and then blushed "And she also said it's possible for the commander to confess loving to be....is that even physically possible?"

"Wait, what?" Makoto said, looking over, before turning green. "Bad Thoughts! Bad Thoughts!"

Misato was starting to think maybe the fact that MAGI didn't want to talk to them was a good thing. Or that she couldn't tell what jokes MAGI told. The computer seemed to have a very twisted sense of humor. And was extremely sarcastic.

Frankly Misato could see a lot of her friend Rits in MAGI. But that seemed to make it harder for Ritsuko to work with MAGI then easier.

"I'm working on those scanners." Wheeljack said "Though I keep being told to stop using a Star Trek technobabble generator."

Misato nodded, and gazed on the image of the Angel. Something about it was nagging at her, setting her on edge. And she didn't like that feeling at all. Or that whatever it was probably going to hurt the pilots a lot.

"Get me Bluestreak." Misato ordered "I want him down there to snipe that Angel."

When the Evangelions got out there, Asuka figured easily killing this Angel would do wonders for her reputation.

Shinji glanced over to her. "Remember what Misato said, Asuka. No heroics."

Asuka charged and stabbed the Angel in the core. She had a satisfied smile on her face. Somehow showing up the "Greatest Swordsman in the galaxy" made her feel even better then doing so to just Shinji and Rei.

"That's how you do it, Third." she said cockily, giving him a 'V-for-Victory' gesture.

"The Wreckers are not looking to expand their ranks at the moment." Cliffjumper yelled.

Asuka promptly rotated her hand around to make the 'up yours' gesture at the Autobot. Cliffjumper looked like he was going to turn his huge rifle on her and blow her head off. Starsaber prayed to Primus that Asuka and Grimlock would never work together on anything. The Dinobot Commander would likely kill the Second Child. Starsaber then noticed something happening to the Angel.

"Look out!" Starsaber bellowed as the Angel suddenly twinned.

At NERV, Misato swore. "I thought it was too easy!" she said.

Wheeljack mused for a moment and said "You're right MAGI I do need to make a flame thrower for Eva 01."

Asuka was non-plussed. "But... I stabbed it in its' core! It should be dead!" she yelled.

"Then we rip it out." Blacker said "And merge to form...."

Blacker, Braver and Laster merged and yelled "Road Ceasar!"

Asuka actually face-faulted Unit-02 at that.

Cliffjumper used his huge sniper rifle to knee cap one of the 7th Angel Twins. The wound vanished before their eyes.

"Do it again." Starsaber said. So Cliffjumper did. Before the wound could seal up Starsaber fired his missiles into the wound. When it sealed up the missiles went off inside it.

"This Angel's regenerative ability is impressive." Rei commented

"Though it didn't seem to kick in until after Asuka stabbed it." Shinji noted as limb from when the Angel was one still was on the ground.

"Or maybe it's due to some quality of Starsaber's sword." Maya said.

"And his missiles going off inside one of the twins worked." Aoba said as that twin was walking with a noticable limp.

"It's like one of those RPG games with a twin boss..." Makoto commented

"I got a plan." Ironhide said as he came up on a monitor.

"What is it?" Misato asked

"Freeze them with Liquid Nitrogen and smash them."

"You mean like that boss in Final Fantasy 14?" Maya asked. "The one where you had to freeze those two bosses and smash them in the same turn?"

Ironhide just looked at her funny.

"What?" she said defensively. "It's a good game series."

"Might over microchips." Ironhide said.

Maya felt rather insulted at that comment.

"Not to rush you." Starsaber said "But we could really use the help ASAP."

Misato nodded. "Well, it's worth a shot."

Ironhide and Brawn flew out a shuttle rigged with a larger version of Ironhide's gun. On the first pass they accidentally hit the angels with molten lead instead of liquid nitrogen. The flesh of the Angels burned. The Angels screamed in outrage and pain.

Starsaber blasted the Angels with his head laser machine guns and missiles while Road Caesar gutted one of the Angels with his massive "Road Blade". The core was only barely missed as the Angel was able to turn to the left at the last moment.

Bluestreak blasted the other Angel with a headshot. It stumbled around as it's face reformed. Rei calmly picked up the prog-spear that Asuka had been carrying, and stabbed the blinded Angel through the core.

Starsaber nodded to Road Caesar and the two drove their swords through the other Angel's limbs and cut them off. Shinji then drove his axe through the core of the Angel.

The two Angels shuddered violently, and fell still. They still had Ironhide use Liquid Nitrogen and had Brawn shatter the Angels to make completely sure.

Misato beamed. "Well done everyone!" she said

"Other then little Miss Wrecker here." Blacker said.

"Hey!" Asuka yelled

"Look the Wreckers are a respected unit." Starsaber said "But teamwork is important."

"Courage, team work and hope for the future." Shinji said sounding like he was quoting a religious text.

He made his way over to help Asuka up, and to soothe any hurt feelings. At least he hoped it soothed her feelings.

Asuka was deeply irritated now. She'd been made to look like a fool and didn't have any real part in defeating the Angel. It was making her feel useless and she hated feeling that way.

To their surprise even Blacker and Cliffjumper were silent as they drove back to NERV.

Misato was waiting for them.

"The Angel is defeated," Starsaber said "Both cores had to be hit, and we made sure by using Ironhide's plan afterward that this Angel isn't coming back."

"So instead of studying the corpse you decided to simply destroy it?" Ritsuko said.

Misato sighed. "Rits, enough with the Mad Scientist shtick, will you?"

"If they come back from that I'll be sure to send you out first." Braver commented.

Misato chuckled at Ritsuko's outraged expression, as she went to check up on the Children.

Asuka looked rather glum. So far her being an Evangelion pilot was a poisoned chalice.

Misato sat beside her, asking her what was on her mind.

"I thought being an Evangelion pilot would make me special," Asuka said "But it's Shinji this or Autobot that or Starsaber...whatever."

Misato hugged Asuka gently, and stroked her hair as she let Asuka vent. And boy did Asuka have a lot to vent about.

Misato just continued to hug her comfortingly.

"I felt like I had to be the best." Asuka said "And Shinji tops me by meeting aliens...and he never rubs it in."

"Like it wasn't amazing or that his friends trash our views of science with their technology, their very planet, and the things they find in the Solar System."

"It's not healthy to keep these things bottled up, Asuka. Trust me, I know." she said softly

Asuka sighed.

"Want to talk more about this later?"

"Yeah." Asuka said.

Misato nodded, and patted her back, before going to check on Shinji.

Shinji was watching a TV report of the Decepticons fighting the Autobots outside of Osaka. And in it Devastator was using a strange lance and it took a Grimlock bite on it without even being dented. What neither of them were aware of was that it was the Lance of Longicus. Or how important that weapon was to the various plans involving Third Impact.

In his office Gendo was surprised to get a call from the Old Men. So far they'd been hiding in fear.

When he got one of them yelling "We're all going to die!" Gendo knew that this meeting was going to drive his blood pressure through the roof.

Gendo then felt like dropping f bombs in his office when they showed him the lance was in the hands of the Decepticons. Fuyutsuki at this point knew NERV and SEELE were sinking ships. And Optimus Prime was well known for his mercy. Yet he was loyal to Gendo, but he couldn't see this ending well for him.

Gendo however fumed and planned how to bring things back under his control. He would be reunited with Yui. No matter the cost.


	13. Chapter 13

Shinji found it amusing how they could all fit on Kensuke's sofa. They were all watching an interview with Steven Cobert that Shinji had done. Gendo didn't want that to happen but was overruled by General Toru. The General had pointed out that by Autobot shuttle Shinji could be gone and back in a few hours.

He also pointed out that the defenses for the city due to the Autobots and the other two Evangelions were good enough to handle an Angel if they attacked. Gendo honestly didn't like that but couldn't disagree.

Kensuke laughed out loud. "Shinji, how did you manage to get away with saying things like that?"

"You mean the impersonation of my father I did?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah; I mean, you looked just like him with those glasses and everything."

"I just hope you weren't offended Rei," Shinji said.

Rei said nothing; she was staring at the TV wide eyed. The tv show was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Asuka huffed. She wanted to be on TV too. Though on something with a bit more class then a comedy news show. Still it was better then Hector Ramirez's program. Grainy footage of giant subterranean monsters or talk of weird creatures roaming the Himalayas and of Kohbrala also being in that region was all tabloid garbage.

"Maybe next time, Asuka," Shinji said.

"You can always ask a reporter outside the Ark," Sideswipe commented "Especially after Grimlock spent the day flipping them off again."

"Isn't that every day?" Toji asked.

"Hmmm..." she mused.

Shinji then groaned as Steven Cobert brought up a picture of Rei in her plugsuit and said she was either from a fetish video or an anime. Or a fetish anime. On the TV, Shinji was trying his best to explain why the plugsuits were so form fitting. Asuka grumbled about it always being Rei and not her they used on TV.

Shinji then showed off the battle suit Wheeljack had made for them. To appreciative 'ooohs' and 'aahs' from the audience. And the fact there was an Autobot symbol and no NERV symbol on it was commented on.

Kensuke winced. "That's going to unleash a world of hurt on someone..."

Asuka's cellphone began to ring. Shinji wondered why Asuka had a Purple Fungus song as her ring tone.

"Can't be Kaji." Shinji said "Given she calls him. Asuka do you realize kind of stalk him right?"

"Shaddup, Third." she grumbled. She was sick of everyone calling her love of Kaji stalking.

"Hello?" she the asked, as she answered her phone.

It was the Vice-Commander. "Asuka, we want you to come in as soon as you can. There's something we need to check up on."

"Fine," Asuka grumbled.

"Trouble at NERV?" Shinji asked, seeing her glower.

"They want to see me about something," Asuka commented.

"I'm sure Huffer will give you a ride," Sideswipe joked.

"You don't need to be mean Sideswipe," Hikari said.

"Guys, guys, let's not fight, please?" Kensuke asked, unused to the role of the peacemaker.

"I'll give her ride," Hound said.

"Thanks, Hound. "Shinji said sounding relieved.

Hound and Asuka left the apartment and Hound asked Asuka "Do you honestly think a certain special agent likes you?"

"Why shouldn't he? I'm his Bond Girl." she said, as if explaining it to a child.

"Don't those die?" Hound commented.

"Not always." she said. "Pussy Galore was a Bond Girl, and she didn't die." she pointed out

"Yes but the one that married he got killed." Hound countered.

Asuka didn't answer; the moment he'd said 'married', she was off in her own little dreamworld. Which didn't involve giant robots blowing each other up, zombies, or giant monsters. A world that where things were what they seemed to be and it was more normal.

Hound was sure in a decade if he brought up her crush she'd wonder what she was thinking.

"Kaji-kun..." she mumbled a bit.

At least, the trip to NERV was quiet. Hound nearly laughed when MAGI told Asuka was called in for first psychological therapy session. Not out of malice towards Asuka, but out of the fact that it was definitely going to be explosive.

While Misato was being shown Wheeljack's newest invention in the Ark. She had no idea what Wheeljack would show her and it could be pretty much anything. If he showed her plans to turn the city into one giant Autobot she won't be surprised.

"Okay,Wheeljack, what's this latest cool toy you've cook up?" she said, good naturedly ribbing the Autobot Scientist.

"I made some improvements on Headmaster's design," Wheeljack replied "I hoped you'd be the first test pilot for the Headmaster process for lack of a better term."

"Go on," she said. "But use small words. Not everyone here has a genius level IQ that puts Einstein to shame, after all." she clarified.

"More of a fan of George Washington Carver myself," Wheeljack admitted.

"Yes, well, you get the idea, though," Misato said, as Wheeljack launched into his explanation.

"Well Masters interface is a work of art. He's a bigger genius then I imagined." Wheeljack commented "A pity he was let go of NERV. If they let him work on the Evangelions I'm sure some of the bugs would have been worked out."

"Maybe, but the guy was insane, Wheeljack. I mean, seriously insane."

"Misato from what MAGI told me that's a common thing among NERV's ranks," Wheeljack noted "And we saw the first activation test of Evangelion 01. You do you know what happened to the first test pilot of that Eva? One Yui Ikari?"

"Parts of it. I know the sync rate went over 400% and she..."

"Needed to be cleaned up with a mop and bucket."

"Yeah," she said.

"The worst part was, Shinji was there and he saw the whole thing as it happened."

Misato's widened at that. That she didn't know about. It made the event even more tragic and disturbing to her. And she doubted Commander Ikari did anything to help Shinji have that event. Misato wondered if Gendo Ikari even tried to be a father figure to Shinji or Rei at all.

"Even we know such traumatic events will scramble someone's circuits in bad ways," Wheeljack said "There's a reason we have someone give psychological evaluations to all would be Wreckers and Elite Guard members."

She nodded. "And then having his father dump him off with a relative messed him up further..."

"Jackass..." she added after a moment's thought.

"These events and others make us glad there is still UN oversight in the form of General Kenji Toru," Wheeljack said.

"Speaking of him, I heard that he strong-armed the Commander into hiring a therapist."

"Good," Wheeljack said.

Misato nodded. "So, how've you improved on Masters' design?" she asked, getting them back on track.

"Retractable head." Wheeljack said "Though Masters was able to do that. Well before Grimlock ripped it off."

"Yes, I saw the footage," she grinned. "He liked doing that, didn't he?"

"You saw why we keep Grimlock and his group around," Wheeljack said "They're savage, brutal and nasty but they're our savage and brutal warriors."

"Better the devil you know, in other words."

"Of course there are the Wreckers." Wheeljack said "Asuka's tactics against the last Angel are how they do things...and probably why they burn through members like it nobody's business."

"Using a sledgehammer to crack open a walnut, right?"

"No." Wheeljack commented "Using C4 to crack open a walnut."

"Oh." she said, as he lead her to where he'd been working. Wheeljack's lab reminded her of her apartment before Shinji moved in. There were various pieces and parts all over the place. Even several partly built bodies would be seen on the work benches.

She swallowed a little, feeling a little like she'd come into a morgue.

"Oh don't worry about that," a flickering hologram of Naoko Akagi commented. Though it was strange seeing the scientist wearing a red jacket and a red hat with a gold Autobot symbol on it.

Misato jumped in alarm, and her hand on pure instinct went for her shoulder holster. Though Naoko Akagi didn't look like a zombie.

"And this is one of my daughter's friends." MAGI muttered.

"Sorry..." Misato said sheepishly. "I just thought that... Well, no, never mind..."

"My boyfriend has been working on being able to project myself," MAGI said "Along with a matter replicator, building a TF frame, and working on what is basically my father or maybe grandpa."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Misato asked him.

"Make curly fries, end the Cybertronian Wars, or keep from hurting myself sometimes with my experiments," Wheeljack joked.

"He once confused fire redardant with rocket fuel," MAGI commented "He has both in his arms."

"I see... I hope you've kept him in line then," Misato said to MAGI.

"I try," MAGI said "And I can't wait to see my darling Ritsuko...and scare the every loving crap out of her."

"Right..." Misato said, as Wheeljack got them back on topic, again.

"As I was saying I improved the Headmaster armor and got this car." Wheeljack stated.

"Car?" Misato asked.

There was a Vanquish next to a pile of parts. The silver car stood out given it had been polished and almost gleamed under the lights of the lab. The number plate read SC-23.

Misato may have been Japanese, but even she knew what that was. "That's an Aston Martin..." she breathed, going over and running her hand over the sleek curves of the luxury sports car.

MAGI looked at Wheeljack with an amused expression. He helped confirm her theory that Misato and Kaji were both huge fans of James Bond. MAGI was more a Derek Flint fan herself.

Misato then grinned. "Does it have revolving number plates? A smokescreen projector? A passenger-side Ejection seat?"

"Nope." Wheeljack said.

"Pity." she said, before, naturally, humming the James Bond theme.

"You had to do it," MAGI said shaking her head "You gave him ideas."

"What? The Aston Martin is the iconic car for the iconic spy."

"Putting in an ejector seat would be a slagging pain," Wheeljack commented "If it was more boxy it'd be easy."

Misato said nothing, as she slipped into the driving seat of the Vanquish. It was different from her old Renault Alpine. She hoped this car could take more damage then her beloved vehicle was able to.

"Like it?" Wheeljack asked.

"Oh yes." Misato smiled. "I love European sports cars like this."

"I added in laser machine guns like Starsaber has."

She grinned at this. "So, how do we do this, then?"

"Say head on." Wheeljack said "After putting on the watch in the glove box."

Misato opened the glove compartment, and examined it carefully. "Should I get out before I say it?" she asked, as she strapped it to her wrist.

"At least for the first test."

Misato nodded, and then climbed out to stand beside the car. "Okay. Ready?" she called.

Wheeljack got back. He was sure this would work, but that didn't mean it wouldn't explode. Or burst into flames.

"Right. Head on!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers as she did so.

Misato was covered in red armor. Her vision now had various options and she had something called sonadar she could use as well.

"Woah!" she said in surprise, looking at herself.

"And you can merge with the car."

"How?" she asked, as she examined her armor-encased body more closely. Then she got a history lesson. Young Transformers used verbal commands to change between their modes. It was like training wheels on a bike.

"Just say transform." Wheeljack stated.

"Thank you she said. "Well, here goes. Transform!" she called out. And with that Misato transformed and turned into a Transformer sized head that merged with the car.

"Gaah!" she said, falling over with a loud metallic thud. "Holy-!"

She'd thought it had been an adrenaline rush getting the armor on, but that had just blown that out of the water.

She panted and shook her head repeatedly. "That was..."

"Amazing?" Wheeljack commented.

She nodded. "Is it like that for you when you transform as well?' she asked, getting back to her feet.

"Its what we do," Wheeljack said wondering what she was talking about "And it beats walking."

"You can say that again," she agreed, dusting herself down.

"So then, I suppose I'm going to need training to use this properly..."

Wheeljack nodded. "That's correct."

"I can't wait until I get mine." MAGI said.

"What would you be?" Misato asked, curious.

"For an alt mode?" MAGI asked.

"Mmm." she nodded

"Anything I can get," MAGI said.

"I see.'

"And to think Headmaster did this for laughs."

Misato nodded. "Mad as a hatter."

"Even I am not that crazy," Wheeljack said.

"And that's saying something, "MAGI quipped.

"Very funny dear," Wheeljack said sarcastically.

"It's a women thing," Misato said

"Don't take it too hard, Wheels." she added

Wheeljack shrugged and was working on another invention. It was for humans to turn into the engine of a Transformer and the energy made from consuming biological foods could used to power said Transformer. It was something Wheeljack had an idea of since he got the chance to look at how Kickback worked.

"So, ah... how do I transform back?" Misato asked.

"Head off or Transform."

"Thanks." she said. Misato then demerged from what Wheeljack had dubbed a transceptor.

"No problem."

Misato then noticed a human sized set of armor on one the work benches. It was gun metal gray and red and had missile launches on the forearms. It also looked like it was made for a woman.

"What is that?" Misato asked.

"That's Rei's battle suit," Wheeljack replied. MAGI had a bit of a sour expression when Wheeljack mentioned Rei.

"I have a few issues with her," MAGI explained.

"Right," Misato drawled out.

"I don't hold them against her personally," MAGI said "But let's just say it was all Gendo's fault and leave it at that."

"Why does Rei need a suit of power armor when she has an EVA?" Misato asked. She was curious about it especially since this suit was armed.

"Just in case," Wheeljack replied "I wanted to add energy weapons to Shinji's suit but didn't work out how to add them to something this small until now."

"Can I get a set of plasma rifles for Section 2 for 'just in case'?"

"I got compressed air guns like the Evangelions have over there," Wheeljack said pointing at the rack of human sized guns.

Misato looked at one and noticed the pounds per square inch of the blast was changeable. It wasn't quite the weapon she wanted but was sure Section 2 would still enjoy this firearm all the same. Even if was aerosol guns on steroids.

"And we're still working on the best weapon to use against the zombies," MAGI commented "Regular lasers or black beam blasters."

"You guys are the best," Misato said "And you seem to make every week like Christmas."

"Thanks for the compliment."

At NERV Asuka slammed a door. She took several deep breaths to try to get her temper under control. It was a hard thing to do since what they did to her completely pissed her off. It was like someone was stabbing her in the back to even think it was necessary.

"Therapy sessions," Asuka snapped "I don't need psychological therapy. I'm fine."

"And Grimlock is only a little antisocial," she heard. Asuka turned and saw what she knew to be the holoavatar of some Autobot. Only they would have the guts to talk back to her.

He looked about 18, and had a thin goatee and was wearing a green muscle shirt and jeans. She knew it wasn't Sideswipe or Bumblebee or Hound given she'd seen their holoavatars fairly often.

"So which one are you?" Asuka demanded.

"Brawn." the extremely strong Autobot replied.

"So you wanted to see me squirm?" Asuka growled.

"Hardly," Brawn said "Make sure you went. Or else you might end up like Bluestreak."

Asuka made a face.

"His entire city was killed Asuka. He was left alive as a message and tell the story. Do you really want to end up like him?"

Asuka shuttered thinking about how having Tokyo-3 destroyed and her left as the sole survivor would do to her. And she'd become some motor mouth or worse...

"You made your point," Asuka sighed and reentered Doctor Brad White's office and got back on the sofa. She made a face and that made it clear she didn't want to do it but wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

"Look I know you don't want to be here," Doctor White said in a calm tone.

"No kidding," Asuka muttered "And if you ask me about mutti..."

Brad knew what happened to Asuka's mother was a big part of this, but he also knew he'd have to take it slowly. It was a huge issue for the young girl and not something he would bring up lightly. And going over her psychological profile he was disgusted that Commander Gendo Ikari wanted a body in the seat of Eva-02 and no regard for Asuka's mental health.

"Asuka," Brad said "You're a bright young woman and you have to know the pressures put on you are not a good thing."

"Like they need me," Asuka snapped "They have Shinji and his amazing robot friends for that."

"Given what wants to kill humanity we need all the help we can get," Doctor White stated "However you feel that they aren't treating you like you want to be."

"I have a college degree and they're making me go to classes below my level," Asuka grumbled "I'm an Evangelion pilot with what should be the perfect Eva but some alien mad scientist improved the test units so my Eva is us trying to imitate him. Really why won't I be pissed off?"

Brad nodded. He could see why Asuka would be angry at what she saw her accomplishments being belittled. Though he also noted Asuka's pride and ego seemed to be what was holding her together like it was super glue for her psyche.

"I mean I train at this for years,"Asuka complained "And after the Autobots showed up I'm barely a consideration. I'm surprised they even called me to this place."

And that was what really annoyed Asuka more then anything. She was being ignored for a weenie, his wind up doll, and some weirdo stalker of the Transformers. And of course her attempt to show them all she was good...the Angel split into two. It was like the universe wanted to give her the finger.

"Of course it doesn't even matter I'm an Eva pilot," Asuka said bitterly "Given Shinji will be remembered instead of me. And not for being a pilot either."

Brad had to admit Shinji was going to be remembered and not for being an Eva pilot. And he really wondered about NERV given all three pilots were going to be coming to him for psychological help. Shinji and Asuka had huge psychological issues, and Rei had all her information erased.

Brad seriously wondered what sort of messes the 4th , 5th and 6th Children had to be using the first three as a benchmark. With General Toru admitting to him he had to do a lot of arm twisting to even find out how many pilots there were.

"Well Asuka he did make first contact with an alien race," Doctor White admitted.

"A chance encounter," Asuka said "You or Commander Witwickycould have done it just as easily if you were in the right place at the right time."

"Possibly Asuka. But he did make contact with them and everything has changed."

"And all for the better," Asuka sarcastically remarked "We have zombies, and giant robots running around. And the Angels are treated as just another menace."

Brad knew that Asuka considered her being the pilot of the first production model Evangelion made her special. And now that was becoming harder and harder for Asuka to think that. Doctor White had a gut feeling that "Pride comes before the fall" would have hit Asuka very hard if the Transformers didn't come to Earth. And given she was the first and last line to save the Earth that would have dire results for humanity.

Now it was just Asuka learning some hard lessons.

"Asuka," Brad said "You have to understand that you can't save the Earth by yourself."

"Compared to the other pilots?" Asuka commented "Seriously Shinji had no training and Rei wasn't much better."

Asuka sighed. "Of course the Autobots are professional soldiers. I just want them to be watching my back instead of thinking I'm useless."

And Brad felt he found the cause of a lot of Asuka's behavior. She didn't wish to be seen as useless. And Evangelion being different and her mind more advanced then the prototypes reenforced that. Doctor White found it rather sad Asuka's giant robot was something she needed to feel important.

"Asuka, " Brad asked "What are your plans for after the Angel War?"

Asuka pondered that question and realized she had no idea what she'd do after that. She then remembered what she read about the astronauts that went to the Moon. How many struggled and never recovered over the fact they had walked on the lunar surface and they had nothing that could top that.

And how she could easily become that after the war was over. Though ironically if she wanted to be the first woman on the Moon she'd just after to ask the Autobots for a ride. She resolved to ask them for that as soon as she could.

'Still this isn't as bad as I thought it would be,' Asuka thought 'If I have to do this for them to think I'm sane then I live with this.'

Maya watered the plants in her window sill pot. She saw a bug fly off them and went looking for her electric flyswatter. The thing was huge and sounded like a helicopter. And it was almost like the insect was laughing. Maya hoped her fly swatter was powerful enough.

"Megatron," Thundercracker said "We're detecting a large group of organic beings approaching from under the water. And they are not using a submarine."

That got Megatron's interest. Organic beings approaching from under the water? On screen where several humanoid frog creatures riding yellow one man crafts.

"Then we should prepare a warm welcome for them," Megatron commanded. To the Slag Maker everything was folder. Including fish men.


	14. Chapter 14

Gendo eyed with hate the fully functional space port built outside the city. It was a monument to have much things had gone off his plans. Now a whole planet of robots had foot hold in Tokyo 3 which was being called Autobot City more and more.

And he was seeing his pawns that knew only of NERV's public goals wearing the red Autobot symbol or even more annoying, a version of the red symbol that was Optimus Prime's face. To make that symbol even worse was that Optimus Prime really didn't want his face plastered over even more products in that form.

The selfless paladin nobility disgusted Gendo. And Starsaber was cut form the same model. Gendo would be even more annoyed if he knew that there was literally a psychological condition among the Autobots and even some Decepticons of taking hero worship of Optimus Prime a bit too far. They repainted themselves to look more like him, even underwent body modifications to look more like him as well.

Gendo had to bribe, manipulate and more to climb his way to power. He had his pawns follow him out of fear and now he had paladins among them that he couldn't crush like he intended for the 3rd Child. And if anything Optimus Prime and Starsaber gave Shinji role models.

Something that Gendo wanted to keep from happening. He wanted to keep the Third Child easy to mold and weak. And the Second Child an arrogant mess hiding her insecurities. But now he was forced to have therapists in NERV's pay roll and for various people to have sessions with them.

And next to him was General Kenji Toru. A man that shouldn't have any say in the operations of NERV yet he did. It galled the Supreme Commander of NERV to have to share power with anyone. Especially someone who was not under his thumb besides the Old Men.

"Looks like we've joined the interstellar community," Toru mused.

Gendo wasn't sure if that just put the Scenario into a wood chipper or hit it with a bullet train. He honestly didn't even want to appear at the opening of the space port, but if Toru and Optimus Prime were there, he had to make an appearance.

It was a PR move and Gendo knew that now he would have to make them to keep onto his power. The world was changing and to be reunited with Yui had to change with it. As much as he didn't like it. He even had to reforge old bonds to find the scientists he had for his special projects.

Gendo then noticed a blue spaceship fly in and transform into robot mode. The odd thing was he had no symbol on him. Every Transformer he had seen had one of the symbols on them somewhere.

'Why would a neutral Transformer if such a thing exists come here?' Gendo thought.

"Primus," High Beam muttered "Sixknight found us."

"Bring me the most powerful Autobots and Decepticons to battle!" Sixknight roared in front of the camera crews.

Sixknight ignored the questions being asked of him, and them recording his image for the news programs around the world. He blocked a sword strike by Braver with with his bare hands and found it amusing how Starsaber and his closest allies enjoyed using melee weapons like swords a lot.

In the Autobot section of the stands Prowl was already sending orders to send all humans to the shelters and raise the defenses. While it might not be an Angel, Sixknight was a powerful warrior and not just someone with a loud audio transmitter.

His ripping Shockblast apart limb by limb proved that. Not that anyone on either side missed that butcher who would kill his own troops if he had nothing better to shoot at.

"Get everyone to the shelters," Optimus Prime ordered.

"Prime!" Sixknight yelled before transforming into a puma and leaping at the Autobot leader. Optimus quickly rolled to the left and the Six Changer collided with the stands. Braver looked annoyed he'd been considered chump change by the neutral Transformer.

As Sixknight burst out of the wreckage, he found himself punched in the gut by Brawn. The force of the blows knocked him out of the stadium and amused the factionless Transformer.

"Perhaps Brawn is worthy to fight," Sixknight mused as he took control over his flight. The ronin Transformer hit Brawn with his blasters and only appeared to annoy the super strong Autobot. Brawn returned fire with his laser pistol. However he no luck in hitting the aquamarine Transformer.

Sideswipe rocketed through the air via his jet pack at Sixknight. The sixchanger looked amused as he easily dodged Sideswipe's clumsy aerial attack. Sixknight was then blasted with a barrage of fire. If anything having multiple people fire on him made the faction-less Transformer look someone told him a funny joke.

He transformed into a giant gun like Shockwave and opened fire. Most of the Autobots got out of the way, but Bumper's left arm was blown off and the small Autobot was sent flying back and made a horrific crash as he went through a reenforced glass window and landed in the food court for the space port. High Beam leaped through the hole to see if Bumper was alright.

A massive bolt of lightning struck Sixknight. It knocked Sixknight out of the air and into the ground. While he was down Cliffjumper put full power into his primary and massive gun and let loose on the Six Changer.

"Aerialbots attack!" Silverbolt ordered.

"I always wanted a shot at Sixknight," Slingshot boasted as he strafed the knocked down Transformer.

Skydive went in close and Sixknight leaped onto him in puma mode and quickly transformed to starfighter mode and attacked the Aerialbots head on. Air Raid nearly was blown out of the sky by Sixknight.

Then Sixknight saw a red cybertronian jet. A feral grin fixed itself onto Sixknight's face. He knew exactly who that was.

"Starsaber," Sixknight said with glee. He had long wished to battle the greatest swordsman in the universe.

Starsaber fired on Sixknight with the Six Changer nimbly dodging the attacks. However it was all a feint as Sideswipe landed on Sixknight and literally kicked the canopy of the starfighter in with his foot.

Sixknight quickly transformed to robot mode and hammered on Sideswipe with high speed punches. The battered Autobot couldn't help but laugh.

"What is so funny?" Sixknight asked sounding offended. He got his answer when Air Raid pulled a move out of Ramjet's play book and slammed into him. The pair rocketed across the sky over Tokyo-3. It wasn't until they reached the mountains outside of it Sixknight was able to free himself.

Sixknight transformed into gun mode to clear the skies of Autobots before landing.

"I got this!" Fireflight yelled.

There was a loud explosion as Fireflight tried hit Sixknight with a fuel air bomb. The six changer Transformer turned into drill mode and managed to drill underground and avoid the massive explosion.

In the armored command center under the space port General Toru watched the battle.

"And you trust a scatter brained Autobot with those kinds of weapons?" General Toru said in shock.

"I can understand why you are weary of Fireflight and his fire-fog missiles," Prowl stated "But he hasn't hurt anyone with his diversionary weapons."

General Toru was shocked. They considered fuel air bombs good for a diversion?

V-V-V

In the confusion and panic Kaji slipped away and found himself confronted by Smokescreen. The triple agent looked surprised for a moment before slipping into a mask of being completely at ease. He wondered what the friendly Autobot Intelligence Agent wanted with him.

"I need to keep this brief," Smokescreen stated "Whose side are you really on Kaji?"

"Now what makes you think I serve more then just NERV and their mission to save the world?" Kaji asked.

"Because we're not stupid or overworked Kaji."

Kaji had to admit that point. He was using the fog of war to keep Misato from finding out what was in that briefcase. Given the instant she found out, Gendo would have her killed. If she didn't take him out and end up killed while doing it.

"And we still wonder what was in that briefcase you delivered to Commander Ikari," Smokescreen commented "Anything important to him will likely become a problem for us later."

Kaji knew admitting it was Adam he hauled around for Gendo Ikari to use in his plans won't go over well. As much as he would have liked to have seen Misato pump that creature full of lead and the Autobots making sure the first Angel was dead and unusable for Gendo's plans. Kaji wondered what Gendo even wanted with Adam in the first place.

"It was hush hush," Kaji said "You know how that is."

"Kaji you are making it extremely difficult for us to figure out where you stand. Grimlock wants to simply kill you and get it over with."

That didn't surprise Kaji at all. Grimlock was very brutal and to the point. Still he felt a bit honored to be a point of discussion among the high ranking Autobots. He just hoped what discussed about him was more pleasant then what did with Gendo.

There was no way that any of them honestly liked working with the cold commander of NERV. Or trust him at all.

"I just want humanity to survive the Angel War." Kaji admitted to Smokescreen. He wasn't sure if it was the best answer but it was the most honest.

"Good answer." Smokescreen said before driving off.

Kaji felt relieved for some reason. He wasn't sure but perhaps he managed to get rid of some of the bad blood he created on the Over the Rainbow.

The triple agent then plotted how he could get the Autobots to find Adam and destroy it for good. And perhaps he could find a way to get MAGI's help on that. Kaji then laughed. He too considered MAGI to be just a computer before this. One of incredible processing power due to the processors, but no different then any laptop he could pick up at an electronics store on a basic level.

Now she could be his best ally in saving the world from SEELE, and Gendo Ikari. And he thought the world was already a place where nothing was as it seemed before the Transformers showed up.

V-V-V

"You know I have better things to do then be your ride," Blurr commented so fast it was almost all one word "I could use my speed to fight Sixknight, who is frankly a loose cannon, and use his arrogance..."

"SHUT UP!" Asuka bellowed "Just shut up and drive!"

"I must agree with Asuka," Rei quietly commented.

Blurr simply increased his speed to over 300 mph instead of talk to the humans riding in him. They won't know a good conversation if it attacked them anyway.

While Shinji was glad he was riding in Windcharger and he might be behind Blurr and the others, he knew he'd keep his sanity. Blurr talked so fast that motor mouth was putting it lightly. And that yes Bluestreak had served with the guy.

The trip thankfully didn't end with Blurr requiring to report to Ratchet for repairs.

"Guess we should have warned you about Asuka," Windcharger joked "She's a spitfire."

"She is a very spirited individual, yet I doubt her self esteem is anything more then a facade but I'm not a psy ops bot like Rung."

"She's in therapy for a reason Blurr," Windcharger noted "Pit! Half the people here are in therapy for various reasons. We think Gendo Ikari has the same standards as the Wreckers reserve list."

"And how would you know about that?" Blurr pointedly asked.

"I've worked with some of them," Windcharger replied "Primus Rotorstorm and Ironfist had problems."

Blurr switched over to Cybertronian. He didn't want anyone but MAGI to overhear the conversation and understand it. His trust of the NERV commanding officers was nonexistent.

"Smokescreen and Bumblebee have told me much about Gendo Ikari and I honestly believe he will be as big of a menace to us as the Decepticons. Especially if he finds any projects Scorponok left on this planet."

"Wait...Scorponok has been on Earth?"

"Yes, and I was part of the mission almost a Vorn ago with Highflyer to deal his experiments on this world."

Windcharger was shocked that Transformers had been to Earth before the Ark and Nemesis crashed on it. And wondered what sort of a mess Scorponok left behind. Especially since biotechnology was something he specialized in.

And his student Brushguard once created Guardian sized plants that tried to eat Transformers. And several other plant creations that were a pain to deal with.

While preparing for launch Rei pressed a button on her watch was in encased in red and grey battle armor. Shinji smiled at the First Child given he knew Wheeljack been working on giving her a unique battle. And Shinji liked the final product a lot.

"Hey those are my colors Wonder Girl," Asuka snapped "Honestly is this supposed to be an sentai show I'm stuck in?"

"I like it," Rei stated softly.

"I think it looks weird," Asuka commented "And I like our plugsuits better."

"And I do not like being seen as some fetish pin up model."

"You live in Japan, even Second Impact hasn't killed off the perverted weirdos into that."

Rei rubbed her wrist mounted laser cannons. Asuka blinked. And wondered where Wheeljack was getting the ideas for what to do with those suits. Where they going to transform into part of their Evangelions by the time the Autobot mad scientist was done tinkering? She then realized to never say that out loud or Wheeljack would probably try to make it happen.

"Honestly these are so we can synch better with our Evangelions," Asuka said pointing at her plug suit "It doesn't have to be full on battle armor like Iron Man."

"I like it," Shinji said with a concealed smile given he had his helmet on. Though the annoyed look Asuka gave him made it clear she heard the smile in his voice.

Ritsuko watched and was jealous of Wheeljack's budget. As in he didn't have to worry about such a thing. He seemed to just invent and create new things because he could. New A-10 plugs, enhancements for the Evangelions, axes, swords and guns for the Evangelions to use, and now this. It was like the scientist had seen some Sentai shows and went "Hey Shinji and the others need some of those" and created them to fit the theme.

"Oh jeez," Ritsuko grumbled "Does he always have to give these kids battle armor."

Of course the fact that the plugsuits had become the butt of nearly every joke since Shinji's TV appearance wasn't helping things. Ritsuko and the science and engineering staff were all feeling like they were grade school children trying to keep up with a straight A college grad student.

Ritsuko lit a cigarette and calmed down a bit. She knew Wheeljack wasn't trying to show them up out of malice. Or trying to destroy Gendo's little Scenario on purpose. Though Misato's amused smile while looking at Rei's suit made her wonder what Wheeljack's next invention was.

In the command deck Gendo wondered why NERV was to be involved in a purely internal Transformers matter. And it wasn't even the Decepticons as this robot seemed to be a free agent that wished to prove he was the strongest.

"Sir we are getting a call from the UN Council," Hyuuga stated "We are to aid the Autobots in this battle."

'And they will then complain about how damaged the Evangelions get after this battle.' Gendo thought with gallows humor. Still it was time to act like professionals and clean up their messes for once.

"Launch the Evangelions," Gendo ordered "And show the Autobots how NERV handles its problems."

And Gendo took solace in the fact the Evangelions hadn't had that Optimus Prime's face version of the Autobrand painted on them. At that point the Evangelions might as well have been covered in marketing logos like race cars.

As she entered her entry plug Asuka looked eager to see if she could crush a Transformer with her Evangelion. At least he won't be able to split into two like the last Angel. Asuka then revised that thought as maybe this one could do that.

In Eva 00 Rei could feel jealousy coming from the trapped soul of Naoko Akagi. She wasn't sure why though was glad she wasn't fighting with her over control of the Evangelion right now. While in Eva 01 Shinji was nearly knocked over with a feeling of love.

'Where is this coming from?' Shinji thought as he basked in the love.

MAGI's holoavatar smirked at her manipulations of the souls of those Evangelions. With the looks on the faces of everyone in the command center other then Misato also being amusing. Especially the expression on Ritsuko's face which was pure anger.

"What you don't like my hat and jacket?" MAGI joked.

"I don't like your face and what you look like." Ritsuko growled cutting to the heart of the matter.

MAGI smirked. She then glared at Gendo Ikari for a moment. He showed no reaction to her other then to look at the golden Autobot symbol on her hat. She didn't want to annoy the hell out of Gendo too much just yet but she enjoyed letting him know what side she was on.

The Evangelions launched into battle and Sixknight looked at them with disgust. Mindless beasts were not worthy foes for him.

'So they have to send their transorganic beasts to fight me.' Sixknight thought as he dodged a burst of laser fire from Air Raid and Slingshot.

Sixknight transformed into laser cannon mode and opened fire on the Evangelions. Eva 02 clutched a wound to the side that was leaking a mix of energon and other fluids. Asuka then tried to impale the six changer on her prong spear, but Sixknight transformed to puma mode and leaped into the spear and transformed back to robot mode. He ran up the spear and blasted her right in the face.

Asuka growled and managed to slap the neutral Transformer with one of Eva 02's hands. Sixknight flew through the air and transformed into his wounded jet form. The sixchanger shot the hand that smacked him to make a point. Asuka rubbed the back of her hand out of reflex. Due to her improved A-10 clips the laser wounds didn't hurt, but it psychologically felt right.

Rei opened fire on him with a compressed air gun but Sixknight managed to dodge bursts of compressed air that could propel a car with enough force to go through a sky scraper.

"I think we need to stop giving the rifles to the Evangelion that lacks depth perception," Asuka remarked.

The First Child wondered if Asuka had a natural talent for getting on everyone's nerves. She pondered if Sideswipe would like to help her with a few things after the battle.

While Shinji fired a ion blast at Sixknight with an upscaled version of Optimus Prime's rifle. Sixknight had to work at dodging the attacks. He wondered what made these transorganics smarter then the usual kind which were mindless beasts.

Sixknight transformed into laser blaster mode and opened fire on Evangelion 01. He blew the eyes out on the transorganic and while it was stumbling blasted through the left leg of the purple behemoth and sent the Evangelion tumbling to the ground.

Rei's eyes narrowed and she tried to cut Sixknight in half with her saber. Asuka gave Rei some cover fire. The aquamarine Transformer nimbly dodged their attacks and returned fire on them. The Aerialbots flew in to give the pair a hand.

'Well this sucks,' Shinji thought as the Evangelion started to regenerate eyes and a leg. Then suddenly he felt a surge of protectiveness and rage build up. He wondered where this came from and why when it overwhelmed him.

Suddenly the eyes and leg on Eva 01 regrew. The massive purple transorganic had a wild look in it's eyes and let out a earth shattering roar. Gendo was shocked that now was when Yui's spirit reawakened. This was what he had planned to have happen when the 3rd Angel attacked. Not in a battle with a ronin Transformer.

Evangelion 01 roared and grabbed Sixknight out of the air and slammed him into the ground. Shinji tried to regain control of the Evangelion as he stomped on Sixknight. Emerald sparks came out of the wounds Sixknight hand and he looked like transforming back to robot mode hurt a bit.

"What the Inferno is that thing?" Sixknight asked. It was like Omega Supreme had just attacked him. An enraged Omega Supreme at that. It explained to him why the Constructicons feared the infamous Guardian.

Evangelion 01 then tried to crush Sixknight it's bare hands. However the Sixchanger was able to avoid the raging purple biotech mech's grasp. Sixknight flew as fast as he could away from Eva 01. The purple berserker collided with Evangelion 00 and sent them both down in a heap.

Inside Eva 02 Asuka watched in shock and wondered what was going on. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the barely controlled carnage. It was was simply...incredible. While worry swelled in Rei. She was worried if her boyfriend would be ok after this fight.

In the command center MAGI was amused. She had awakened Yui and was positive that Gendo would think finally something was going by his plans. And he had no idea it was anything but that. MAGI couldn't wait to see the look on Gendo's face when he found out how bad this really was going to be for him and his long term health. The slagger was going to learn hell have no fury like a woman scorned.

On the battlefield Shinji struggled to regain control of his Evangelion. It didn't seem to be fighting him so much as it had a different idea of how to beat Sixknight. And that moment of internal conflict was enough for Sixknight to get back in the air and back on the offensive.

Asuka however had enough picked up Eva 01's ion rifle and blasted Sixknight at point blank range. The energy blast slammed into Sixknight with the force of Superion's fist and sent him to the ground. Silverbolt hit the downed Transformer with a bolt of lightning from his gun to help make sure Sixknight stayed down.

However Sixknight managed to rise, with sparks all over his body. A look of pure rage was on the face of the ronin Transformer as he opened fire on the Aerialbots and Evangelions. Rei kicked a boulder at Sixknight, which he managed to go through in drill tank mode.

"What does it take to put this guy down?" Asuka grumbled.

Sixknight then leaped into the air and barely avoided being cut in half by the saberblade flying through the air. It boomeranged back at Starsaber, who caught it in his hand.

"Give up Sixknight," Starsaber yelled "We have you surrounded."

To their surprise Sixknight laughed and transformed into his laser cannon mode and opened fire on all of them.

The ego driven aquamarine Transformer was starting to feel all the damage of his injuries as he felt sluggish and his laser blasts not as powerful as he wanted them to be. Suddenly the one eyed transorganic picked him up and threw him to the ground. All three of the transorganics took turns stomping on him.

Sixknight mercifully went into stasis lock.

In the Autobot command center under the space port, General Toru then saw the Evangelions attack Sixknight and wondered if Gendo was insane to launch them against this Transformer. The record of the Evangelions against the Transformers was pretty spotty. The biggest win being because they had help blowing the optics out on Devastator.

Toru then started making calls so Gendo won't be able to claim the battered Transformer for his own personal collection.

V-V-V

In the depths of the Geo Front Steeljaw followed the smell of LCL. The depths of the Geo Front were as twisting and confusing as the depths of Cybertron. Though Steeljaw knew he won't have to fight mutants, Centurion Droids, and transorganics in here, something felt off about the place to him. Like there were things going on that if exposed would shake the foundations of everything.

And Steeljaw did not like that feeling at all.

Through his link to Blaster he'd been kept abreast of current events and had this feeling that LCL was going to fit into the puzzle that NERV was. He just wasn't sure where and how.

V-V-V

The creatures before him reminded Starscream of something he had read of human liteture. Ah yes the Deep Ones of H.P. Lovecraft. The human horror writer supposedly wrote of things from his dreams. The arrogant scientist smirked thinking about his former friend Jetfire would try to explain something from the nightmares of a being could turn out to be true in a way.

Soundwave recorded every telepathic message King Nergal made. Something about them made him feel the undersea king was saying one thing out loud and a completely different thing to his servants. He was completely untrustworthy. Yet Soundwave and Megatron knew he'd make for a useful tool and weapon against the Autobots and their human allies.

King Nergal smiled gleefully at his pawns in the conquest of the surface world. Ever since the waves rose he had been planning to take over what was left of humanity. After all his race could exist on the surface quite easily if they had water to breath.

The only thing that held them back was that their power sources were magma vents on the bottom of the ocean. The logistics of taking over the surface world were too great. But now they could move Sub Atlantis to the surface world and bring all it's weapons to bare on humanity.

Energon was such an amazing thing.

V-V-V

Sixknight awakened from stasis lock to see objects being removed from the transorganics. He was shocked to see small beings exit them and one taking off it's head. Or rather helmet. It was...a human being?

Humans had beaten him? How was that possible? Humans were weak sacks of ego-centrism and slag that acted like war was something they invented. He should have been able to defeat them easily. He was frankly surprised Megatron hadn't crushed them simply because that arrogance would annoy the Slag Maker a lot.

How could have fought him on near equal ground and won? It just didn't make any sense to him. Maybe there was more to humans then he had previously thought.


	15. Chapter 15

Ritsuko's cigarette almost dropped out of her mouth as a silver Aston Martin Vanquish drove into the Eva bay and transformed with Misato becoming the head. Ratchet shook his head in amusement. He had been helping Wheeljack on that process since he got his hands on it.

"Hiya, Rits!" Misato called, waving to her. "You like the new me?"

"You mean it took Wheeljack about about two weeks to improve Master's insane idea?" Ritsuko yelled. She'd be even more shocked to know it really only took a week with the second one being so Misato could learn how to control her Transformer body with a great degree of skill.

"Yep!" she called, leaping down and changing back to human form. "You should have heard him, Rits, I swear he was five seconds away from turning into Lil' Washu!"

"Heaven help us if he watched that anime," Ritsuko remarked. "But if he comes in speaking with a Scottish accent I'm going to get drunk."

"He was Canadian, you know," Misato commented.

Ratchet scanned the two with his medical sensors. He personally found the personal habits of both women to be unhealthy and wanted to have evidence to show what drinking or smoking was doing to them at their next physical. He was also sure that General Kenji Toru would be interested in seeing the medical scans as well.

And there were some things he was getting in Ritsuko's scan that really worried him. And he was sure that pictures of Misato's liver would help get her to cut back on drinking. It was like if Energon corroded a Transformer from the inside if they drank too much.

"Anyway, Rits, how've things been here at Chez NERV?"

"Same old, same old," Ritsuko sighed. "Though the Commander finds Shinji wearing the Autobot symbol on his armor annoying enough...you had to go and become one."

"Yeah, about that, Rits..." Misato said as she recalled what Hound and the others had told her about the things going on around them. It was making her wonder if she was living in a spy novel. Her old boyfriend trying to be James Bond or one of the other guys that came out due to his success.

"What else did Wheeljack do?" Ritsuko asked in an annoyed tone. The Autobot scientist seemed to live off changing everything. And they literally had a large trunk for all the honorary engineering and scientific degrees that colleges were sending him.

And reportedly enrollment for science and engineering had gone through the roof after Wheeljack and Braver had an interview to with Jeffery Abrams on T-Span. Ritsuko honestly felt a bit jealous of the fame that Wheeljack was getting.

"Not that," she replied. "Though there is something there as well."

"He build a Frankenstein's monster out of spare parts?" That honestly wouldn't have surprised Ritsuko one bit if he did that.

"No; I been thinking about a few things..."

Ritsuko wondered if Misato would have to be replaced. Once Misato got something into her head it stayed there. And if she looked too closely at things Gendo would have her killed. Thought that was looking to get harder and harder every day. Even more so now that she was a Transformer.

Misato looked at Ritsuko carefully. Something wasn't sitting right with her. She wondered how deep in Gendo's pocket her friend was.

"What?"

"Rits, Why's Commander Ikari so worked up about the Autobots? If I were in charge, and we got help against the Angels like we did, I'd be doing cartwheels, not acting like I had a dead mouse in my miso soup."

"Misato the man is a control freak," Ritsuko remarked. "He was going to get total command over the war with the Angels when an alien space ship used the 3rd Angel as a parking space. Now he has to deal with Optimus Prime and General Toru. And our most advanced weapons against the Angels have been completely overhauled by a giant robot."

"Even so, that still raises questions, Rits."

"Questions on what exactly?"

"Smokescreen and Bumblebee have been doing some digging into things, and the Commander seems to have been involved in everything leading up to the War. And the Marduk Institute is just a shell company created by him. "

"Still angry that he never mentioned knowing you before Second Impact?" Ritsuko joked trying to change the subject.

Misato was not in the mood for jokes that bad. And if anything she knew that she was onto something. Her friend was hiding something from her, and Misato had a feeling it was going to be world shaking. Even after all that had happened since the Ark crashed on Earth.

They didn't notice Maya looking a bit glassy eyed as she walked toward the Evangelions. For a moment there was a flash of silver as she stood next to each Evangelion.

"Rits, I'm serious. There's something fishy going on here, even I can see that."

"You besides giant robots, zombies, who knows what else comes up?" Ritsuko remarked

"Well, yes," she said. "But nonetheless..."

It was then the Evangelions started moving. They roared as they strained against their restraints. The metal started to creak and groan. Tools hit the ground as the Eva bay crew made their way for the exits as fast as they could.

"What the-?" Misato gasped.

"This is impossible," Ritsuko gasped as the Evangelions broke free and started smashing things. Eva 02 picked up a fork lift and threw it into the command center. Ratchet transformed and barely avoided being used the same way by Eva 00.

"Crap..." Misato muttered. "Head on!"

A robotic rhinoceros beetle sitting on the head of Eva 01 laughed. Bombshell was filled with glee at the plan working. He was also amazed a plan Starscream had thought up would work. This was far better then trying to eat the Evangelions. And it was time for part two.

Ritsuko was shocked when Maya pulled a blaster out and opened fire on her. And she was a better shot then Ritsuko thought she'd be. Ritsuko barely managed to get behind some cover. However the blast fire destroyed it easily. The most frightening part was that Maya wasn't saying anything as she did this. She also had as much facial expression as someone who was sleep walking.

Robo-Misato growled."Get down, Rits! Bombshell's controlling them!"

Ritsuko got to the ground and was shocked that the Bombshell's cerebro shells could control the Evangelions. Instead of Rei clones and equipment all they really needed was a mind control device that fit into someone's head. It would be a lot more interesting to Doctor Akagi if it wasn't being used in an attempt to murder her.

Misato, or Minerva as she was called in this form, pulled out her own energy pistol. She aimed for the eyes of Eva 00 but it used it's arm to block the shot. The thick flesh of the Evangelion absorbed the energy bolts easily. However it looked like the Eva was in pain.

Ratchet pulled a pair of blasters and opened fire on the Evangelions. The transorganic behemoths screamed in pain as his energy bolts struck their flesh.

"I'll deal with the Evas, you get Maya!" Minvera bellowed.

"Got it." Ratchet replied. He scanned Maya and was able to tell where the Cerebro shell was in her. With a lot of experience in dealing with the mind control device he generated an EMP to disable it. Maya dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

Minerva fired at the 'con as she darted around, avoiding the Eva's. Which got a lot harder as Eva 02 tried to impale her with the Prog spear. The floor of the Eva bay was covered in gash marks as Minerva stayed a step ahead of the enraged Evangelion.

'Lucky that the rest of the weaponry is securely locked away,' she thought, as she attempted to shoot the head off the prog-spear.

Eva-01 let out a howl and punched the roof of the Eva bay. While Eva 00 slammed it's fists into the floor. Ratchet and Minerva fell over and Ratchet nearly had a transport truck fall on top of him. Eva 02 threw its spear at Misato and she barely managed to transform and drive away from the massive weapon.

"Why the hell hasn't anyone sprayed bakelite in here yet?" Minerva yelled.

"MAGI said Maya managed to hack the system to turn it off," Ratchet replied. "Bombshell planned ahead for this."

"Damnit!" she growled. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way..."

The Eva bay rattled as suddenly a red semi came flying out of one of the walls and colliding with Eva 00. The Evangelion was hit right in the face and lost it's footing. Tracks flew into the Eva bay and blasted Eva 02 in face.

"Or not as much..." Misato murmured, as she covered Optimus.

Eva 00 stumbled back and collided with Eva 01. Both transorganics fell to the ground with an earth shaking thud. And Eva 02 was trying to swat Tracks out of the air and missing. It was then hit in the gut by Ironhide going 65 MPH in van mode.

"Rits, get Maya out of here, and unhack the system," Minerva called to her.

Ritsuko didn't need to be told twice as Sideswipe slammed into Evangelion 02 and Jazz into Evangelion 01. Minerva then body slammed into Unit-00 as it was getting back up. Bombshell size changed from human insect size to full sized transformer to keep from getting crushed. The Insecticon then had to dodge a spray of molten lead from Ironhide's gun. There was a sizzle and a scream of range from Eva 01.

That was when Jazz caught sight of him. Tracks and Sideswipe opened fire on Eva 01 and kept Bombshell's attention. It worked too well and Eva 00 slammed its hands together and created a thunderclap that would have done the Incredible Hulk proud.

Jazz literally leaped onto Eva 01's arm and run his way up the transorganic to get to Bombshell. Minerva didn't dare try any of that yet, as she was still getting used to her new form. Plus the fact Jazz was a ninja and she doubted half the Transformers could move like he did.

Jazz knocked a cerebro shell out of the air with his laser nunchuks. Minerva then shot it out of the air.

Eva 02 rose from the ground and let out a horrific howl. Bombshell chuckled.

"Destroy them my puppets!" Bombshell crackled.

"C'mon, Rits, get the bakelite guns working..." Minerva muttered.

In the control center Ritsuko found that Bombshell had made the most of Maya's level of access and now she was fighting all kinds of cyber warfare she never had heard of before. She was swearing and begging the MAGI in turn.

Suddenly there was an uploaded antiviral program and MAGI was able to battle Bombshell's viruses. Ritsuko nearly broke out in sobs of relief. She would have even gone as far as kissing Wheeljack if he'd been there.

The bakelite started spraying in the Eva bay. Misato didn't want to see if the spray would gum up a Transformers joints, so she got out of there as fast as she could. Bombshell also made a tactical withdrawal. Under a hail of gunfire, it had to be noted.

In the command center Ritsuko wondered if that nut Doctor Arkeville's theory of 'Hypno Chips" worked the same way as Bombshell's cerebro shells. And in some dark part of her mind, she wondered if Gendo knew of him, or was planning on hiring him. For the official NERV science division, not the underground group of scientists considered insane, their theories impossible or just pain insane.

She shook her head free from these thoughts, and decided to talk to Maya. The young woman seemed deeply shaken by her experience. Maya stared at the blaster in her shaking hands. The physical proof that this wasn't all just a horrific nightmare.

Ritsuko peeled the weapon out of her hand and put it down. Maya looked like she was about to burst into tears. Ritsuko wasn't what anyone would call a 'people person', but she did the best she could; she wrapped her arms around Maya and held her, rubbing her back comfortingly. Maya then broke down into tears.

Makoto and Shigeru looked at each other and then at the sight behind them. And that it could have very easily been them used by Bombshell for this attack.

General Toru came into the command center and wondered what Ikari was doing now. One of his own had been used as a puppet and his giant robots went on a rampage. And so far the man that was supposed to be in charge was nowhere to be found.

"General Toru, sir..." Ritsuko said, somewhat awkwardly.

"I notice Ikari isn't here," Toru said. "Now Doctor correct me if I'm wrong. A Decepticon easily got in here, used the Lt. here as a way to mess with MAGI and brought the Evangelions to life under his control to kill us all."

"No sir, that's completely accurate," she stated.

"And Commander Ikari is doing?" Toru asked.

"I've no idea, sir," she admitted, completely honest. "I haven't seen him at all the last day or so."

Toru grumbled and pinched his nose. If he was able to have Gendo Ikari fired he would do so over this. However the Oversight Committee for some insane reason thought Ikari was the perfect man for the job. Toru was willing to bet Gendo had blackmail material on them.

Makoto unknowingly copied the General. "Hey, Aoba?" he muttered. "You ever thought about getting your resume updated?"

"All the time. All the time." Aoba grumbled.

"I don't blame you. Think those Technician jobs with JHCI are still open?"

"And we'd still be working with Wheeljack," Aoba mused. Frankly working with him was the best part of the job now. He was always open to ideas, always willing to talk to them, and also willing to show off his racing moves.

Makoto nodded. "And we'd still get to see Katsuragi-san." he said with a sigh.

Aoba snorted.

"But she's a shotacon Makoto," Aoba joked.

Makoto blinked at him. "You know, that's the first time I've heard you make a joke."

"It just came to me." Aoba admitted.

"Right..."

"If you two are done," Toru interjected. "We need Ratchet to scan you for Cerebro Shells."

"Us, sir?" Hyuga asked.

Toru nodded "All NERV employees are to be scanned."

"All right, sir."

In the Eva bay they saw Wheeljack cutting open the Evangelions for the Cerebro shells. No one trusted them to be where Gendo could get them. It was like giving nuclear weapons to children. And the whole mess with Bug Bite using them to control his own army of Decepticons was something they all remembered.

Ratchet looked over the pair and said "You two are clean."

Both men looked relieved.

"And no sign of Gendo," Sideswipe noted.

"Where is the Commander anyway?" Shigeru asked

Gendo looked out at the city from his penthouse apartment. With the Lance in the hands of the Decepticons and General Toru useful at the moment to bare the responsibility of running NERV, he had been planning how to get the Lance from the Cons. For now, he sat by the window, gazing outside as he mused on this issue.

The Decepticons were a force he couldn't strong arm. Nor could he bribe or bargain with them. It was... almost refreshing, being in this situation. He could feel parts of his mind that he hadn't used for a while waking, to find a point of access.

And he then knew there was one Decepticon that would be willing to work with him. Starscream. The infamous back stabber of the Decepticons would of course use him for his own ends but the vain scientist was someone Gendo could read like a book.

He leaned back in his chair and mused on how to contact the 'con, and how to deal with the inevitable backstabbery. It was actually amusing to him. Finally, a worthy adversary. And he mused keeping Starscream as a head for Yui to talk to when she was returned to him.

He chuckled darkly at that amusing thought. Gendo also pondered the General's words on his treatment of Shinji. He figured if Shinji died before Yui was revived that the issue would be resolved.

He nodded, and began to ponder what sort of an 'Accident' the Third Child might have. And that he had a lot of accidents to do. Doctor Akagi, General Toru, and a few more. It was going to be a lot of work getting intermediaries for all the assassins he'd require.

"Ah well, you need to break some eggs to make an omelet." he mused out loud.

"Quite true." Gendo heard a voice with a rich almost Russian accent say.

Immediately, he spun around and pulled a pistol out of his jacket, aiming it at the source of the voice.

"Show yourself," Gendo demanded.

A metallic black figure appeared out of nowhere. His red optics glowed and he appeared to be extremely amused.

"Greetings. I am Agent Ravage of the Decepticon army," the Decepticon stated. "I must say you have the spark of a Decepticon Gendo Ikari."

"Interesting..." Gendo said, still not lowering his pistol; he was no fool after all.

"Do you really think bullets could harm the alloys that make up my armor?" Ravage asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Gendo said with a mirthless chuckle. "But someone would notice the sound of gunfire, and ask questions."

"Most of them being...did Commander Ikari finally blow his brains out?" Ravage noted. "At least you aren't soft and weak like that cabal."

"Possibly. But are you willing to run that risk?"

A pair of red dots appear on Gendo's body.

"Not if you'd be dead before pulling the trigger."

Gendo smirked. "Touche."

"We have wanted to get in contact with you since we cowered your cabal," Ravage stated with amusement.

"Is that so?" Gendo said, sitting back in his chair and sizing up Ravage. "And for what reason?"

"You are a very interesting person," Ravage remarked. "Even now you'd murder your son so your wife won't use a cheese grater on your reproductive organs."

Gendo snorted. "He is useful for me, yes, but ultimately, he is expendable. I can always make do with... alternative arrangements." he said with a dark smirk.

"And the fact he has become psychologically stronger and more durable with allies that would rather shoot you out of a cannon into a brick wall has nothing to do with it."

"Well, it might have, perhaps. But still, I know what buttons to push to make him crumble. He will learn his place."

Ravage snorted. He wondered how much Gendo honestly believed that and how much was just bravo. His offspring now had Optimus Prime for a role model. Someone even some Decepticons modeled their appearance and actions after.

"That symbol on his armor designed by Wheeljack proclaims his place to all." Gendo's dark expression made it clear what he thought of that armor, Wheeljack and his son having the Autobot symbol.

"Honestly those that only know of the public mission of your group flock to Optimus Prime."

Gendo glared at the robot. "Get to the point."

Ravage smiled. "We know you want the Lance Ikari."

"Indeed. The Old Men will not be quiet forever."

"Buzzsaw also finds making art out of them difficult," Ravage noted.

Gendo's mind filled in the blanks there.

It is actually quite amusing that the trains still run and the militaries still prepare even without them," Ravage commented. "They're quite pathetic masters of the world to be honest."

Gendo said nothing for a while, before inquiring, "And what would your Army want, in return for placing the Lance of Longinous at my disposal?"

"The Constructicons are quite attached to it," Ravage said. "However what we want is the S2 engine NERV's US branch is working on."

Gendo thought on this for some time. Of course the fact that the S2 Engine was likely to explode and take with it the 6th Child, a wild card to his plans. Chad "Kicker" Jones and how piling pressure on him would work is unknown. He might shatter or he might tie an N2 mine to his back and blow up the city and an Angel. On the whole, though, he had the feeling his plans would be better served by having the Lance.

Even more so now that he knew that even the Dinobots couldn't break it. Using the Eva 02 upgrades and the lance copies of the MP Evas he might be able to put his plans back on track. Though how to force the Transformers off Earth was the big question.

"And none of you can transform into it correct?" Gendo asked. It was a very important question given their races most infamous trait.

"Not so far," Ravage commented after a moment of thought.

"I see..." he remarked. "Very well then."

Ravage smiled and vanished from sight right in front of Gendo. Gendo's smirk grew wider. Finally, something was going his way.

V-V-V

King Nergal was pleased as the Decepticons were powering Subatlantis with their energon technology. Soon he would be able to attack the surface world and conquer it. Then he could prepare for the others. He especially looked forward to crushing Golobulus and his forces.

While Megatron looked at the humanoid frog creature with barely covered disgust. As soon as he had destroyed Optimus Prime and the Autobots, they were going to kill this toad and take his city. Decepticons Forever!


	16. Chapter 16

Asuka wondered why there were tire marks on her Evangelion. And how on Earth they got on her transorganic unit in the first place. And as much as she didn't want to admit it transorganic sounded better then the official NERV term for the Evangelions of bio-mechanical units.

She grumbled as she went to examine the marks. "Probably one of those verdamnt Autobots playing some sort of..." she trailed off into more grumbling as she got a large brush to clean the rubber off.

While General Toru watched the Asuka cleaning her Evangelion and wondered why NERV was so willing to make her a pilot from childhood yet the commander's own son got nothing. He figured that Gendo would have played on any teenage boy's desire to drive a giant robot to get Shinji to come to Tokyo-3. He then shook his head. Figuring out why Gendo did anything was as easy as putting together a massive 3-D puzzle in the dark.

'And likely as ugly too,' Toru mused.

From over the General's shoulder, Doctor White watched Asuka intently. Before Asuka won't have liked anyone to clean the surface of her Eva. Though her making friends with several people was helping her come out of that ego based shell. Brad really wondered why the Children weren't trained together to work as a fighting unit.

True it wouldn't be easy to do that with kids, but it appeared no attempt to even try to do so had been made. Then again Gendo Ikari also ran the shell companies that picked who was a pilot of an Evangelion. It was another tool of control Ikari had that didn't sit well with anyone now that it was known. It also made them question what other independent organizations that worked with NERV really were under Gendo's direct control.

"You have any better luck getting the names of the other Children out of him?" General Toru asked the young psychologist.

"Only a handful of them; three jumped out at me immediately, though."

"Besides the 6th Child?" Toru asked. "You have no idea how surprising it was to see an Evangelion pilot with both parents and a younger sister."

"Mmm... Their names were Touji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and Hikari Horaki." seeing General Toru's shocked expression, he nodded. "All three are in Shinji's class."

"And from what I heard the middle one would have ran across hot coals covered in gasoline to be a pilot," Toru remarked as he shook his head. "Before he started stalking the Transformers and camping outside the Ark in his spare time."

He nodded. "I'll do a bit more digging; I can almost see the pieces of a puzzle here, but I need more time to put them all together..."

"With Commander Gendo Ikari at the center of it," Toru growled in frustration. "The more we find out, the more its clear whatever he's after it won't be good for anyone else. Especially those he steps on to get it."

"Like a spider on it's web," Doctor White agreed.

"And I can't believe they even thought about using Evangelion 01," Toru growled with disgust. "After what it did to Yui Ikari."

White nodded. "I don't know which frightens me more; the possibility that Ikari is completely and utterly insane, or the possibility that he is in full control of his faculties, and everything he's done has had a deliberate purpose behind it."

"Though we have plenty of both going by some of the Decepticons the Autobots have named," Toru remarked. "With Megatron being just as much of a mystery to them if he's insane or in full control of his mind as Ikari is to us."

"Now that's a sobering thought."

"And the fact we were going to let a man who has traits of several different Decepticons save the world?" Toru commented. "Who looks more and more like making one of the Angels head of NERV would be less of a disaster."

Both men shuddered a bit. At least with the Angels they'd be be more honest in what they wanted. And might even tell them what was in the Tokyo-3 region they wanted so bad before they tried to kill everyone.

"And the Evangelions were crap," Toru noted. "They used power cords of all things for power was a tactical nightmare. And a pathetic stopgap measure until they were done creating something that was frankly messing with antimatter of all things. And the knives were usable, but they were the only weapon they had worth anything."

"Mmm..." White nodded, as they watched Asuka clean Unit-02. Even now the fiery Second Child took a great deal of pride in her Evangelion.

"And how is Lt. Ibuki doing?" Toru asked gently. "After being used by Bombshell..."

Brad shook his head in disgust."She's a mess, sir. If I'd had my way, I'd have pulled her from duty and placed her on Medical Leave to get proper psychiatric help."

"Ikari trying to throw his weight around?" Toru groaned."Or getting Doctor Akagi to follow his lead, which is the same thing honestly." Brad nodded.

"I'll knock er talk some sense into him," Toru stated with annoyance.

The general then ran his fingers through his hair. Getting Commander Ikari to change his mind was like pulling teeth out of an alligator. Only without blood on the ground after it was all over and finished. And what worried Kenji was how close Gendo was to having no military oversight, and just a single UN Committee to keep an eye on him. With Ikari that was nearly unlimited power to work towards his own agenda.

"Thank you sir," Brad White said honestly.

"I saw the medical report Ratchet gave me on the Operations Director and Head Scientist," Toru said sadly. "One is trying to smoke her self to death and the other had been drinking so hard I'm surprised her liver didn't explode like a bomb."

"And when you went to Ikari about this, what did he say? No, wait, let me guess; was it something on the lines of 'as long as they can perform their duties, I don't care what they do in their off time'?"

"Exactly," Toru grumbled. "I even asked if he watched what they did on their off hours for his own entertainment."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did, the ego-maniac."

"He also didn't answer me," Toru remarked with a sardonic smile on his lips. "So I took it as a yes."

It really meant that Gendo didn't consider the question worth answering, but for Toru it was worth using for a joke. Kenji would never joke about military personal, but Ikari only had the honorary title of 'Commander' and didn't earn it.

"And my friend Alexis wonders why this job is making paranoid," Doctor White commented.

"I can see why MAGI never talked to this people," Toru mused. "If I had to work with these people and pretend to be something so they'd avoid trying to chat with me, I would in a heartbeat."

"I can't say I blame her, either."

"In your expert opinion," Toru asked. "Would you say the command staff and the pilots all require their own personal psychologists?"

"Psychologists? God above, General, in my opinion, we'd need a team for each of them!" Brad stated. "However that's what I feel for a lot of people that survived Second Impact. This group will manage to make it...barely in some cases."

"And I take it having friends is the only thing that makes Shinji even close to normal?"

"General, from what few records I could find, Shinji was almost worse than Asuka, just in a different way."

"So basically Ikari's plan was to find the most psychologically screwed up children he could find, put them into life and death situations?"

"It's almost hilarious, if it wasn't so tragic." Brad commented as he shook his head sadly. "Thankfully the other pilots are far more normal and more stable then the first three Children."

"Though it doesn't answer why none of them were tested," Kenji said annoyed. "Instead he had Shinji dragged here. And I'm sure that the 3rd Angel would have beaten Eva 01 easily."

"And of course never answer why other then the 6th Angel they all come to this city," Toru remarked. "And where the hell Angels one and two are." Of course what the first Angel, aka Adam was and that he caused Second Impact was an open secret among NERV. Though they never said what happened to him, or if they'd ever made sure he was dead. Toru was almost sure it was, but wanted to be completely sure that Adam was dead and never coming back.

"They must have some sort of bait; but what would lure an Angel, as surely as cheese to a mouse?"

"I'm sure when we find that out, we'll have to kill Ikari."

"Should I bring stakes and Holy Water?" Doctor White remarked with a huge smile.

"More like a Jetalone to step on him," Toru joked. "And the First Child is likely the only to really care."

The two men nodded in agreement. The First Child was the only person Gendo Ikari had been seen to act open and even nice around. However her dating Shinji Ikari had put some distance between them, not to mention his letting her live in a slum showed even toward Rei his good nature only went so far.

It also reminded Toru to see what upgrades Wheeljack had planned for the Trident project. The sniper mech was going to be far more useful against the Decepticons then the Angels.

V-V-V

In the darkened office of the Supreme Commander, Misato was meeting with Commander Ikari. Gendo had seen her transceptor unit and he was wondering how the hell the Dead Sea scrolls could become useful for use as toilet paper. The Angels even now had gone from being seen as world ending threat to just a threat among many. People now feared the Decepticons far more.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Misato asked, barely masking her growing disgust for the man. The more time she spend with the Autobots, the less and less Gendo Ikari became something she could tolerate to be around. If anything it she was pondering how to get him thrown out and make General Toru or Colonel Witicky completely the head of NERV.

"Captain," Gendo said from behind his desk. "Why would you want anything...he could offer you?"

"Who, sir?" she asked carefully.

"Wheeljack," Gendo Ikari said and Misato thought he made it sound like a curse word.

"I've never liked the fact that the Evangelion Units require children to pilot them, as you well know, sir."

Gendo nearly scowled. He never expected in two weeks for Wheeljack to take Masters insane genius and improve on it.

"And that gives you the right to wear the Autobrand?"

"It's nice to see that you're at least keeping up with events." she muttered to herself cheekily, before raising her voice back to normal. "It's simple, Commander; Optimus Prime would never have allowed me to use the transceptor if he wasn't completely satisfied that I could control it fully; he's a better judge of character than any one I've met before."

Gendo knew full well how good of a judge of character the Autobot Commander was. And he despised Optimus Prime. It was like the Autobot leader could look straight into your soul and knew exactly what you were under any veneers and false faces. And he wasn't sure where interstellar allied armies fell on the Geneva Conventions. Of course driving around in the body of foreign military unit wasn't covered by it and Gendo's only solace was her autobrand wasn't the version that was Optimus Prime's face.

Misato knew that too; Kami alone knew she was far from perfect: she was a slob, she drank too much, and many other things beside, but even with all that, knowing that the leader of the Autobots trusted her that much gave her a warm glow in her heart.

"I see," Gendo coldly stated.

Misato watched Gendo's face carefully as she waited for his response, trying work out what his thoughts were.

"You going to give this symbol to our...guest...as well." Gendo remarked referring to Sixknight who was still at NERV and in a state of shock at humans having beaten him. The Autobots were paying too close attention to the sixchanger for Gendo to have him vanish and be studied by his scientists.

"That's not for me to decide, sir."

"Can you recover any of Bombshell's cerebro shells and bring them to me?" Gendo said in a tone that made it clear it was an order.

Misato barely avoided looking at him like he was completely and utterly insane. And that was disregarding the fact that other then a few in pieces in Wheeljack's lab...all the cerebro shells had been destroyed to purposely keep them out of the hands of others. Gendo's hands especially.

"That's impossible, sir. All the cerebro units were recovered and destroyed in the cleanup after the battle."

"Tragic," Gendo commented. "They would have improved the Dummy Plug Project."

"Dummy Plug, Commander?" Misato asked as she was extremely curious as to what that was.

"A project to remote control the Evangelions," Gendo stated. "Much like you wished for the pilots to not be required."

"I see, sir." she said slowly.

Gendo then looked at his desk and saw something from one of the scientists under Doctor Akagi. Hitoshizuku Amaō had some plans for her own Cybertronian based transformable units. Perhaps his scientists could find some use for it.

"Will that be all, sir?"

Screw propriety, Misato wanted out of that office.

"Yes that will be all," Gendo said going over Doctor Amao's ideas.

Misato turned and walked out. When the door to the office closed, she sagged against the other wall, gasping for breath.

"Hey Misato," Kaji said trying to give her his most charming smile.

Misato shuddered, surprisingly not because of Kaji. "Hey..." she said

"You know I never took you for being a huge mecha fangirl," Kaji quipped with a slight hint of a smile.

"Not now, please Kaji?" she asked in a pleading tone. "I just had a stormy meeting with Ikari, and..." she shuddered again.

"He must be losing his touch," Kaji said off-handly. The man could make his head scientists swoon but now Misato looked like she'd rather drink American light beer then deal with him. And she once said she'd drink her own bodily wastes then said light beer.

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Just need to give my report, " Kaji stated. "And Doctor Amao is kind of annoyed Wheeljack beat her to the punch."

Misato nodded, and then looked at him. Kaji looked a bit better then he did on Over the Rainbow, and relieved that Asuka wasn't pestering him as much. It honestly amused Misato that of all the men in the world Asuka had to have a crush on, it was her ex-boyfriend. She did however wonder what boy on Earth could handle a relationship with Asuka.

She gave him a nod, as she began to walk off. Kaji felt more sure that Misato was going to survive the Angel War. The other members of NERV's command staff he wasn't so sure about.

Misato then heard someone screaming. Immediately she sprinted towards the source of the commotion.

"And furthermore your Auto Rooper idea reads like something about of a bad manga," Wheeljack stated. "And I have no idea why you think human females kissing us will grant us super powers? Was your daughter the one to write that?"

Needless to say everyone slowly backed out of the room as Wheeljack's holoavatar took the doctor's ideas and destroyed them. It one looked closely Wheeljack's hologram looked like a mix of the fictional characters Reed Richards and Mr. Spock. Doctor Amao looked like she had been hit in the face with a 20-pound haddock.

"Plus you lacked an element that would synch the user with the unit," Wheeljack commented.

Doctor Amao mumbled something to herself; Wheeljack's superior hearing could make it out as being something about not coming up with ideas after two saucers of sake. He smiled as he remembered when Brainstorm put out the idea of using the power of the imagination of organic children after a few too many high grade energon cubes.

"Hey Misato," Wheeljack called out. "Just dealing with the most laughable ideas I heard."

"Sounds like it," Misato drawled. "Seriously it sounds even weirder then Masters' ideas."

V-V-V

In the NERV pool Shinji was wondering why everyone thought Rei was his girlfriend. Not he disliked her at all, just that he really hadn't dated her or anything like that.

The girl in question was gliding through the water of the pool, doing laps.

"Well she looks pretty agile," Sideswipe's holoavatar commented. "Reminds me of this femme I used to date. Had a plant alt. mode for some reason but she could..."

"Please, no more." Shinji said hurriedly.

"All I was going to say she she could smell like pine."

Sideswipe then grinned. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I choose not to answer that." Shinji stated.

"Emirate Zeenom you are not Sideswipe," Cliffjumper's holoavatar commented. For some reason he looked a lot like Casey Kasem.

Shinji chuckled a little at this. The Autobots used some obscure and odd things for references for their holoavatars. And it made it an interesting game of guessing what they used as the basis for those forms. Though some were less obscure then others. A case in point was Cloudbust.

"How do humans get their hair like this?" Autobot communications asked pointing at his holoavatar's head. An apt question as his holoavatar looked like Wolverine of the X-Men.

"Styling products," Shinji said, before he saw Rei climb out of the pool, water droplets cascading down the figure-hugging white one-piece swimsuit.

Shinji was transfixed at the sight. Sideswipe waved his hand over the Third Pilot's face. "Cybertron to Shinji, Cybertron to Shinji."

"Eh? Wha?" he said, shaking his head.

"Well at least we know for sure you like girls," Cliffjumper remarked with a laugh.

"Though that..accident helped," Sideswipe noted with a hint of amusement. Shinji blushed as he was sure he was referring to what had happened in Rei's apartment. The Autobots teased him a bit about that even now.

Rei then walked over to them.

"So would you launch a thousand ships for her Shinji?" Cloudbust asked extremely curious since he'd read about the source of that statement.

"Possibly..." he said softly, before Rei sat beside him.

"Looks like he's a romantic," Sideswipe remarked. "So you going to do anything Rei?"

"Did you bring your swimming trunks, Shinji?" she inquired. "I need some assistance in one of my exercises."

Shinji nodded and went to change.

"You know we really need to get Asuka a boyfriend," Sideswipe said with a grin. "I wonder if Matt Helm would like that."

Rei looked at Sideswipe's holoavatar questioningly.

"She doesn't know who Matt Helm is," Cloudburst commented." Primus I have no idea."

"Spy novel series that never adapted well to film," Sideswipe said with a shrug. "You mean Kaji doesn't try to be like Dean Martin?"

"My personal observation is that he more acts like an incompetent spy, to hide that he is actually skilled," Rei stated. "And if he used Dean Martin's personality as a template for his cover persona I won't be surprised."

"You like the time Smokescreen cheated so badly at cyberpoker so that they didn't notice Mirage sneak in and steal the plans the cons had in the casino vault?" Cliffjumper asked.

"While I do not know the specifics of that, I'd say the idea fits."

"And does Asuka know that other then in Japan Kaji would get arrested returned her feelings?" Sideswipe asked.

Rei smiled a little.

"I wonder where we'd find someone who could take her huge ego, pride in Evangelion, and various issues and not be scared off by them?" Cliffjumper asked. The aggressive Autobot doubted many dating services would be of much help with that.

Rei nodded. "An interesting thought exercise." she agreed, as Shinji returned clad in a pair of black swimming trunks.

"What is?" Shinji asked.

"Finding a romantic interest for Pilot Sorhyu."

"It hasn't been easy," Sideswipe commented. "Probably be easier to talk my brother into getting a mud bath."

"Humans do that?" Cloudburst asked utterly confused.

"Part of expensive beauty treatments," Rei stated.

"By Xal that's weird," Cloudbust muttered. "And doesn't help Landfill at all."

"I am not doing it," Shinji stated forcefully. "I might be a nice guy and a bit meek but I am not into dealing with Asuka even more then I do now. She'd probably drive me nuts."

Rei nodded in understanding, as she lead him back to the pool.

"Ack!" Shinji yelped while shivering. "That water's cold."

"The maintainance staff mentioned that the heating system broke yesterday, but they have yet to get around to mending it."

"So how often you swim here?" Shinji asked as he tried to take his mind off how freaking cold the water was.

"As often as I can; twice a week at the minimum. That is when I am not recovering from a battle."

"It is a nice pool," Shinji said as he moved in place to keep warm. "Better then your apartment complex was."

"Agreed." she said, very softly.

Shinji moved to hug Rei. She smiled and hugged him back; her body was surprisingly warm to his touch. She then explained why she asked him to join her.

"Pilot Ikari I believe you need a more extensive physical exercise regiment," Rei bluntly stated.

"So you think I need to work out more?" Shinji said. He then shrugged. Swimming seemed as good as anything to keep in shape.

"They do also say that it helps to have a partner in it as well."

"And we need to do something other then sitting on Kensuke's sofa watching TV," Shinji noted. "Even if it is a 70 inch flatscreen."

"Indeed." she said, as she began laps again, parting the water with the grace of a dolphin.

Shinji held no aspirations to being that good. And he doubted Rei or his friends really care if he wasn't that good either. Still Shinji started to do laps. Help work off some of those ding dongs he enjoyed while at Kensuke's. And the Evangelion pilot was glad he liked green tea chips over potato chips.

During one of his laps, Rei seemed to leap over him, like a horse jumping a fence.

"Is she part mermaid?" Cloudburst asked Sideswipe.

The other Autobot shrugged.

They all heard a gasp as Asuka had watched Shinji and Rei flirt and now Rei's aquatic acrobatics.

"Himmel..." the German murmured.

She never imagined what it took to make Rei act like a human being was to get her in the water. And Rei probably could make the Japanese swim team if they restarted the Olympics. Asuka found herself actually jealous of Rei.

Shinji soon stopping at the edge of the pool to pant for a moment. He was feeling the burn from his work out. It felt kind of good and could see this working as his preferred way to get exercise. The pleasant company of course helped as well.

Rei floated past on her back, smiling a little.

"Not bad." she told him.

"Thanks," Shinji wheezed.

She gave him an encouraging smile and continued on her way. Suddenly there was red alert sound.

Rei frowned. "Duty calls, it would seem."

Shinji nodded and got out of the pool.

V-V-V

On the bridge even Gendo looked in shock as a whole city rose out of the water and was coming toward Tokyo 3. And in the depths of his black heart, Gendo knew that was no angel. Though the question was what was it then?

"MAGI detects a...moving city?" Ritsuko gasped.

'What is it now?' Gendo thought. 'It is like the Dead Sea Scrolls were purposely incomplete.'

In Gettsyburg President Edward "Auger" Augutter had this weird feeling that he was missing out on some trouble. And that he'd throw a shoe at another TV later.

Misato appeared on the bridge, frowning as she took in the sight. "Get the civilians into the shelters and prepare to lower the city to Battle Configuration." she ordered. She didn't want to be caught flatfooted.

"Right," Aobo said when he recovered from the shock.

"We got worse news," MAGI stated as she appeared before them. "That city is crawling with Decepticons and the inhabitants have Transformer grade weapons."

Subatlantis came up on a series of monitors and everyone saw first hand MAGI wasn't kidding. Purple energy blasts came from the flying city and blew up anything the UN forces threw at them as easily as the Decepticons could. Misato winced when she saw a tank blown up in one shot.

"Damn it!" Misato growled, before looking at the MAGI thoughtfully.

"And it appears there's someone there Grimlock really doesn't like," MAGI remarked. "And given his sunny disposition..."

"That says a lot," Misato muttered, before pausing... "I wonder..."

MAGI then magnified the inhabitants of the city. They were bipedal fishmen using breathing devices to get fresh water to breath. And that appeared to be the only thing they needed to be able to survive on dry land.

Hyuga made a choking sound.

"Oh shit...Deep Ones," Toru gasped.

"You know of them?" MAGI and Misato said at the same time. They then looked at each other for a moment.

"I've read the works of HP Lovecraft," Kenji admitted softly. "Though my reading habits aren't important right now."

"Let's just hope they're the only thing from that to be around," Misato shivered thinking like entities like Cthulhu being even possible and that scared her stiff.

While Ritsuko wondered if these Fish Men would be effected by Third Impact. And realized before the Transformers had appeared she won't be putting serious thought into questions like that. Everything she knew was changing in weird and often completely insane ways. They were making the Type F equipment with it's heavier armor, weapons, and originally N2 Power packs but now stored energon necessary as a standard option for the Evangelions.

With the next upgrade for the suits to be that equipment after this battle. Ritsuko then admitted at least for the prototype Evangelion units. They might need Eva 02 ready to use any of the specialty Types and most of those didn't really work very well with Eva 01 and 00 for various reasons.

'But I bet that the Mastema would impress even Wheeljack," Ritsuko mused. And then was scared realizing what insanity the Autobot mad scientist would come up with after seeing a sword that could turn into a gun that fired N2 mines. It was kind of like tempting him to one up them.

Misato looked very pensive now, as she kept glancing at all the scanners. She felt like a 5th wheel standing around in the commander center when she could be doing something more useful in the field.

"You want to go out there don't you Minerva?" MAGI asked her quietly.

She nodded slightly. "I want the chance to prove I'm worthy of wearing the Autobrand." she said softly.

"Rampaging Evangelions weren't enough?" MAGI commented. "Really what else do you need to prove that you are worthy of being with them?"

She could sort of see what Misato meant, however.

"I can handle it," MAGI said with a smile to Misato. "Transform and roll out."

Misato smiled and nodded in thanks, as she left the Bridge.

On the surface Highflyer, the Aerialbots, Cloudburst, Tracks, Sideswipe, and Starsaber were flying at SubAtlantis.

It was a study of contrasts; flying cars, a legendary piston-engined fighter, an assortment of Cold War-era NATO jets, and an alien craft of baffling geometries. Flying off of the floating city at them were F-22s in a wide variety of colors. With a blue Decepticon with one massive eye and four back of optic sensors leading the charge with an axe.

"For the glory of Lord Megatron!" Lugnut bellowed with his axe held high. "ATTACK!"

"Looks like a bit of a sticky wicket, chaps," Highflyer commented.

"More like a pain in the reactor linkage," Slingshot remarked as he blew several Seekers out of the air.

"Let's hope the civvies are in their shelters."

"They better be," Starsaber said after transforming to robot mode and parrying Lugnut's axe with the saberblade. There was a flash of sparks as the two weapons struck. Suddenly Starsaber kicked the loyal Decepticon in the leg and Lugnut was thrown off balance for a moment.

Starsaber then let Lugnut have it with his laser machine guns. It managed to distract the single minded Decepticon and Starsaber followed it up by changing the position of the saberblade a bit and then letting the Kaon Krusher have it with a laser blast out of the sword in the gut.

"Still think you stand a chance?" Starsaber remarked with a touch of a amusement.

"Die!" was Lugnut's intelligent response.

The Decepticon warrior soon found himself armless. It was then that Starsaber's reputation as the greatest swordsman in the galaxy cut through his internal clutter. And that revelation was his last thought as a barrage of missiles from Starsaber struck him.

"Hit them hard and fast," Silverbolt called out to his team as they flew in formation.

"Tally-ho!" Highflyer called, as he followed the Aerialbots in.

"Death comes to my enemies!" Thrust yelled as he opened fired on the spitfire Transformer.

Highflyer barrel-rolled out of the line of fire before looping around and giving the Conehead a burst of his laser machine guns.

"I thought you'd never show you face here again slagger," Sideswipe said as he blew Thrust's nose cone off with his lasers. The Seeker roared in fury at that. Skywarp appeared behind Air Raid and opened fire on him. And he was right into Slingshot's sights. The hot headed Aerialbot blasted Skywarp before the obsidian Seeker could figure out he made a critical error.

Slingshot got shot by a purple and sea green seeker for his troubles. The hot headed Aerialbot looked annoyed and fired back.

As the aerial battle raged a purple barrier suddenly formed over Tokyo 03 from SubAtlantis covering the entire city and cutting it off from the rest of the world. The flying Transformers suddenly found their battlefield drastically cut down in size.

Skydive barely managed to avoid slamming into the barrier. The Seekers following him didn't. The effect was like an egg crashing into a brick wall. Bits and pieces of the seekers crashed to the ground.

"What the-?" Misato said looking up, having changed to her Headmaster form just moments before.

Hordes of fish men flew into the city and started firing off weapons that could hurt the Transformers. For deep sea beings, it appeared the only concession to living on land was wearing rebreathers filled with water.

Misato frowned as she transformed into Minerva and set off to hello. She fired a pair of blasters John Woo style at the invaders. The brown skinned Atlanteans got behind several cars and opened fire at the much larger target.

One blast fired an EMP pulse that caused Misato's transceptor to lock up. Minerva tumbled to the ground face first. Misato swore she saw her life flash before her eyes when Braver, Trailbreaker and Jazz came to her rescue.

Trailbreaker extended his forcefield and the shots impacted it with no effect. Braver quickly rebooted her systems, while Jazz stood their with his hand open. Suddenly the fish men flew into the side of the bank behind them.

"What...what was that?" Misato gasped as her vocalizer came back on-line.

"Spark over processor," Jazz grinned. Misato had a blank look on her face.

"Its a cybertronian martial arts thing," Trailbreaker explained in a calm tone. "It works kind of like that force trick from the Star Wars movies."

"And here I thought I'd seen everything," Misato groaned as she managed to stand up. Braver let out a snort.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Any response Misato would have made was stopped by the sound of metal on metal and a scream of pain.

"Die!" they heard being screamed a block from their location.

"You ok?" Jazz asked Minerva.

"I'm fine and ready to fight," Misato told him a bit more forcefully then necessary. Jazz nodded.

They moved quickly and saw a battle of metal T-Rexs. Grimlock vs. Doomlock. The pair were beating each other senseless and sparks came out of their many wounds as well as dripping energon. The scary part to Misato was the Dinobot leader looked the most pissed off she had ever seen him.

Grimlock's optics were alight with fury as he tried to to kill the traitor to his team. Betrayal to him had only one sentence...and that was death! And he was the one to fulfill this sentence.

"You're getting soft," Doomlock snared as he dodged Grimlock's energo blade. "You would have killed me by now in the gladiator pits."

"Oh really?" Grimlock mocked him. Grimlock fired behind Doomlock and rolled for cover as his energy blast hit a gas line. The fuel burst into flames and the force of the explosion send Doomlock flying through the air.

The gray and brown Decepticon got back up and transformed into what looked like a metalic version of Zilla. Grimlock in turn transformed to T. Rex form and ripped into Doomlock's throat with his sharp teeth.

Minerva, for all her eagerness, had a feeling that getting involved in that would be galactically stupid and utterly insane.

While she was watching that savage brawl, Misato was grabbed the tongue on a mecha toad looking Decepticon. The Legion Tentacle dragged her over to the Con.

"Glark!" she said in shock, before she involuntarily kicked the 'con between the legs. It stunned Slapper for a moment. There was then the sound of metal on metal as Brawn grabbed the tongue and ripped it off.

Slapper looked pissed at this turn of events. Minerva pulled out her energy pistol and began shooting Slapper repeatedly. Brawn joined her in blasting the ever loving slag out of the disgusting Decepticon.

"Well that was kind of fun," Brawn admitted.

"You two done?" Trailbreaker asked looking at the trashed body of Slapper.

They then saw Pirachicon shoot Eva 01. The gestalt blasted Evangelion 01 in the arm and Shinji dropped his massive battle axe.

Minerva saw red at that. No one hurt her Shinji-kun and got away with it! With Rei having the same thought as she shoved her Electro saber into the chest of the gestalt. The blade came out the other side of Snaptrap who was the torso part of the combiner. Rei pulled out the sword and knocked the Decepticon to the ground with a roundhouse kick.

Minerva shoved the muzzle of her blaster into the wound and began firing inside the Seacon gestalt. It forced the Seacons to demerge and try to hold her off before she killed the Butcher of the Bogs. Brawn, Trailbreaker, and Jazz gave the female headmaster cover fire.

Asuka rolled her eyes and was busy trying to avoid being killed by Devastator. MAGI assisted by firing a volley of heavy missiles into Devastator's back. It got the golem made up of construction vehicle's attention.

And then to Asuka's surprise Sixknight flew into her hand in gun mode.

"What the?" she said, looking at the wild card transformer.

Sixknight fired with full power to primary weapons and metal started to melt and emerald sparks came out of the wounds he left on Devastator. The emerald giant was also knocked back a step. Catching on, Asuka dropped to one knee, and braced her Eva as she began to fight Devastator with Sixknight.

Devastator was between a rock and a hard place as he was attacked by the weapons placements in Tokyo-3 and the Sixknight armed Eva 02. So he fired a laser beam at Eva 02. Asuka had a feeling that this was going to hurt and braced herself for a lot of pain. However due to Wheeljack's improvements Asuka was shocked it wasn't painful at all. Devastator then punched Eva 02 down.

"Nnngh!" Asuka grunted, as she grabbed for her Prog Knife. With suddenly Shinji driving his axe into Devastator's shoulder.

Asuka managed to wriggle out, and knifed the gestalt in the neck joint. There was a purple fluid on the blade as well as a lot of sparks, and then Optimus used his trailer's weapons to give them support fire. The green sectrolaterial fusionalcombiner focused on Optimus. It gave the Evangelions a moments respite in the fight.

"Thanks, Shinji," the driven Second Child said truthfully. "That was too close for comfort."

"And I see they put a visor over his optics," Shinji remarked.

"Smart," she muttered.

"They're an army of conquerors and pillagers...they aren't all idiots," Shinji said as he avoided laser fire.

"I know," she said. "Still, it would have been nice if they hadn't wised up for a while longer..."

"Submit to my will! The will of King Nergal!" Boomed into their heads at sitting next to the speakers in a heavy metal concert levels.

"Up yours!" Asuka yelled back.

"Back the slag off!" Shinji snarled as he tried to fight off the mental voice.

The Eva units didn't care much for him either, snarling their mental defiance.

King Nergal battled a mental battle with the Pilots and Evangelions. And encountered a force more formidable than he expected; the souls of Yui Ikari, and Kyoko Zeppelin Sorhyu. Megatron watched the undersea king's expression as he fought against five people.

"I am connected to all things," Rei stated in a subzero tone. "And...I...Don't...Like...You!"

This was going to suck, quite badly, for Nergal. It was like a tital wave had slammed into the monarch and he went to his knees. Megatron looked at him like he was pathetic. He then raised his fusion cannon at the monarch.

The Evangelion pilots suddenly felt the mental attack stop. It was a shock to them and they wondered what had happened.

Yui nodded firmly, as she mentally hugged Shinji. A sensation that was left comforting and more just a surprise to the Third Child.

"What the pit was that?" " Shinji yelped in shock. That phantom feeling surprised him.

Asuka looked over. "What's up?"

"I felt something hug me," Shinji said. "It didn't feel like a gestalt bear hugging me...if I'd even feel that."

"What did it feel like?" The Second Child asked.

"Warm...and comforting," Shinji replied as he swatted at a Seeker.

Asuka was quiet at that, as she and Sixknight slagged the Seeker Shinji had been swatting at.

Rei tackled Devastator form behind and repeatedly slammed his face into the ground. Optimus gave her a thumbs up. That warmed the bluette's heart.

"Thanks," the Autobot Commander stated.

While the awakening Kyoto Zeppelin Sorhyu tried to organize the images and information she was getting from her daughter. It was hard for her to tell what what was real and what wasn't. Everything was so strange and having only half her soul wasn't helping matters.

Up in the sky above them, Raptor fought Spitfire, as Highflyer was locked in mortal combat with Skywarp. Skywarp chuckled darkly as he teleported behind Highflyer. The Spitfire seemed to produce a massive cloud of oily smoke from it's engine.

Skywarp teleported around it...and himself face to piledriver with Sideswipe. Followed by a searing pain as Highflyer transformed and stabbed him in the back with his propellor.

"Looks like that comes in handy," Sideswipe remarked.

"You've no idea, old chap." Highflyer grinned.

"Foolish Autobot," Megatron yelled and flew at Highflyer armed with a massive and jagged sword.

"Bloody Pitfire!" the Spitfire Transformer said, booking it to avoid being cut in half by the Slag Maker.

With Optimus Prime then letting Megatron have it with his trailer. The Aerialbots moved in to assist their fellow flyer, but Megatron expertly used the air as the 3-D battleground that it was to his advantage.

And Sixknight transforming into drill mode and giving them a hand to fight Megatron. It is something Sixknight had wanted to do for a long time. He slammed into Megatron and started trying to bore into the cyberium armor plating of the Decepticon leader.

Asuka looked at Shinji. "That guy enjoys fighting."

"They said he was one of the champions of the State Games tournaments," Shinji said.

"Right..." she said, as Minerva appeared about them.

"Any idea how we're going to get the floating city out of here?" Shinji asked.

"Well, an N2 mine might do the trick," Minerva mused. "But the yield would have to be extremely precise."

"And the fact that thing coming down on us would be really bad," Shinji said forcefully.

"Well, yes," she agreed.

"Quit standing there and kick some aft!" Huffer yelled as he fired a barrage of missiles at Soundwave.

"Duty calls," Shinji remarked before crushing Insecticon clones under his foot.

V-V-V

In the Geo Front Gendo was planning the best way to bring down Subatlantis intact...and claim it for NERV...and himself.

Hyuga looked up in concern, "The munition supplies are starting to run low..."

"We must take that city intact," Gendo ordered in a cold and harsh tone.

Everyone turned to look at him at hearing that. They had fish men and Decepticons stretching their weapons and manpower to the limit and he wanted to steal a flying city?

"We need that technology," Gendo stated. "And it is within our grasp."

Makoto glanced at Shigeru. "I think the boss is losing it." the bespectacled tech mouthed to his long-haired compatriot.

"And how do you intend for us to get it?" Toru asked wanting to see what Ikari had planned this time.

Gendo smirked behind his intertwined fingers. "I have my means."

"Right..." General Toru remarked with heavy sarcasm.

The General had a worrying thought about this. Several Transformers with clearly headmaster units on their heads came out of hidden access points and flew up to Subatlantis while the other Transformers were busy. Most looked to be Decepticons, but one or two of the units appeared to be Autobots.

There was a deep silence at the sight of this.

"I see you got Masters blueprints," Toru managed to say when he recovered his voice.

Gendo smiled. "For all his madness, he was undeniably a genius."

Toru looked at Doctor Akagi. He stared the bottle blond scientist right in the eye.

"And were you working on this special project Doctor?" Toru asked. "Like Mastema wasn't big enough?"

Ritsuko's expression of horror told him clearly.

Suddenly there was the sounds of explosions from SubAtlantica and the force field crumbled.

Gendo smiled again. He wondered what goodies might now be his to peruse from this engagement. Perhaps he could turn things around and put his plans back on track.

While MAGI wondered where Soundwave was. He'd vanished after being attacked by Huffer. On the frontlines, Shinji, Rei and Asuka had rendezvoused with each other.

"Very suspect that the commander has his own Headmasters," Shinji remarked as they watched in case Subatlantis fell on the city."Especially since the one Masters made is in the hands of the Autobots and Wheeljack didn't share his designs with NERV."

Rei nodded. "Most ominous." she agreed solemnly.

Then the floating city flew out of the city, however the jerky unstable motion meant that either the controls had been damaged or that the Headmasters had gotten control and had no real idea how to smoothly control the flight system. It was a major disaster in the making.

Minerva frowned at this. "I don't like the look of this."

Then came a massive explosion from one of the engines. Flames spewed forth from the port engine and the city tilted forward. The Decepticons and Subatlanticans were fleeing the city. The Autobots were getting as far away from the city as possible.

"Come on." Minerva called to them.

Sixknight transformed to jet mode and landed in front of Minerva. "Hop on!"

"Thanks." Minerva smiled, and jumped onto him.

Wheeljack also flew along side them. On the left was Sideswipe on his jet pack. Gears was taking up the rear using his compressed air jets to be airborne.

The Eva units followed the flying Autobots.

"I think as impressive as these are," Shinji commented. "Our Evangelions just aren't that good at everything that's showing up."

Asuka, rather humbled, nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you're right, Third."

"At least our Evangelions aren't as funky as those transorganics of Cybertron."

Rei said nothing, as the Evas stomped through the city.

Then their was a loud earth shaking crash outside the city, Subatlantis crashed and then it went up in a cinematic explosion. Shinji was rushing to see if Misato and the others were alright. He found Minerva first, staggering up to her feet.

"That was not fun..."

"No scrap," Gears grumbled. "My diodes will be hurting for a quartex."

"We don't ever want to know about your diodes," Sixknight growled menacingly. Sideswipe nodded.

"Anyone need help?"

"You need to see if the Roadjammers made it," Wheeljack said as he got up.

"Roadjammers?" Shinji asked and raised an eyebrow under his helmet.

"That's what they called themselves," Wheeljack replied. "At least when Sixknight asked them."

Shinji nodded, and went to look. And saw an...interesting sight of the two Seeker bodies and an Autobot body...and the Autobot one was trying to rip the headmaster unit off it's head. Something that would be comical in other circumstances.

Shinji pulled out his prog knife and walked over. And with a link to Teletran learned who the Autobot was. His name was Drift and he was an Autobot swordsman of great skill. Not in Starsaber's league but still someone that getting into a melee fight with was a horrible, horribly bad idea.

"Get the slag...off!" Drift yelled as he tried to yank the headmaster unit on his head. The pilot inside was freaking out thinking he was riding on a zombie.

"Hold on a bit, Drift." Shinji called. "I'll try and cut it off."

"What the slag..." Drift yelled as he saw Eva 01. His head had been blown off before the first Evangelion had been launched into combat along side the Autobots.

"It's ok," Wheeljack said in a soothing tone. "He's with us."

"Okay... This might hurt a bit..." Shinji apologized, as he stuck the prog knife in and began to cut away carefully.

It was when the Headmaster unit optics cut out that Drift had any real sense of discomfort. Suddenly being blind in a very strange situation made him uneasy. That Wheeljack was there was the only thing keeping him from freaking out.

"Almost done..." Shinji said with a bit of sweat on his brow as he used the prog knife in ways it was never designed to be used for.

The last connection was then cut and Drift transformed to vehicle mode. Being able to see again made him calm down even if the thing that human was piloting looked like it came out of the Pit.

"Amazing," Wheeljack gasped. "Bumper thought you were dead Drift."

"I nearly was.." Drift softly stated.

"Let's get back to the Ark. Ratchet can have you repaired in no time" Wheeljack managed to get out.

While in the Command Center Gendo was surprised to see that one of his Transformers "corpses" was really still alive. He frowned slightly. Still; he'd managed to get his hands on SubAtlantis; that outweighed that slip-up quite handsomely.

While Ritsuko wondered how the hell a race of technologically advanced fishmen were not included in anything Gendo or SEELE had planned. Not that they had been missed. Humanity knew more about the surface of the moon then the depths of the oceans.

'Still that was a bit much,' Doctor Akagi mused. 'Even by current standards,'

Toru was quietly seething, for his part. Then suddenly and without warning he had a predatory smile on his face. Gendo knew what thoughts amused the general so much it didn't bode well for him.

"Commander Ikari I believe you should be the one to write the report, after all if NERV resources are to be used for the recovery of that city then you are to be the one to tell the UN."

Fuyutsuki watched his old student's face as the General spoke. Gendo's eyes betrayed that he didn't think Toru would give him the city...and how much paperwork and saying "No seriously council members a group of fishmen did attack Tokyo 03."

He wondered if any bodies of those fishmen survived, just to reinforce his words. He made a mental note to recover some of them alive or dead for that purpose. Proof like that would be very useful.

"MAGI, would it be possible to coral the still living fishmen in an LCD tank?" Toru asked. "Given that works like water in the tanks."

"I believe the probability of that is feasible, General."

"Good. Now let's go do that."

MAGI nodded. "Lt. Aoba, Lt. Hyuga, please assist the General."

"And I assume Section 2 has been informed?" Toru asked.

"I informed them 35 seconds ago, once I confirmed the feasibility."

"Then we have some work to do," Toru said taking the two bridge bunnies with it.

Makoto and Shigeru were glad to be out from there. It was getting really, really weird around there, which given their day job was to fight invading giant monsters said a lot, and they were half expecting General Toru and Commander Ikari to get into a gun fight.

"Now imagine if the inhuman creatures and beings in the mountains of Tibet that Hector Rameraz chases after are true," MAGI commented to the three people left on the bridge.

Fuyutsuki had an unreadable expression on his face, but MAGI wasn't fooled. He was thinking about very real possibility of Kohbrala being real. And of course coming to Tokyo-3 with some sort of plans that would end like on Earth.

MAGI then looked at Ritsuko. The bottle blonde found it unsettling and didn't want the holographic ghostly figure wearing her mother's face to look at her. It was as though she knew all her secrets and it was just some sense of amusement that she wasn't telling Wheeljack them.

"Be careful dear," MAGI whispered in her ear before vanishing.

Ritsuko's mouth twitched slightly.

Gendo wondered if the Autobots had upgraded MAGI's defenses to include physical ones. And then realized that given their distrust towards him, and Wheeljack's feelings toward the computer he'd likely have better luck breaking into Fort Knox. While drunk, wearing bright orange jumpsuit, and singing anime theme songs at the top of his lungs.

His ire at the Thrice-damned Autobots grew greater still. He needed to find and create the tools that would let him regain lost ground and control of the situation. However he had to figure out where to find them. His headmasters project wasn't the success he hoped for in that department.

Down below him the Evangelions returned to base, at this point they won't be able to help much in the round up of Nergal's people. The Entry Plugs were extracted and the pilots quickly exited them.

Shinji took his helmet off and was glad he didn't need to take a shower after using the transorganic like Asuka needed to. It was something that Asuka gave him a dirty look about even now

Rei was satisfied with how things went down. "Mission Complete."

"And I think our names will go down in the history books," Shinji commented with a slight smile. "Looks like there's stranger stuff on Earth then in space."

Rei nodded slightly.

"Oh please," Asuka remarked rolling her eyes. "They'll need entire books devoted to us and all the weirdness that has happened. And I know it'll get a whole lot weirder."

And she was honestly afraid on how that was possible but Asuka knew it would happen. The Second Child then moved onto pondering who would play her in the miniseries needed to cover all this stuff. And hoped they let someone who could film a fight scene direct the movie. She'd be unhappy if they let someone who thought shaky cam was a good way to film battles do it.

"So Rei," Shinji asked looking his possibly girlfriend in the eye.. "Do you have any idea who the other pilots are?"

"I know of some of them, yes."

"Good," Shinji stated. "Now are there any training like Asuka was with a specific Evangelion?"

"Not that I am aware of," she said after a moment.

"Actually there is one," Rewind remarked as he walked up to them. That the Autobots roamed the Geofront was now as noticed as the cleaning staff.

"There is?" Asuka asked wondering who else there could be like her.

"A Chad Jones, the 6th Child and pilot of Eva 04," Rewind commented as he pulled the relevant facts from the massive amount of information he had on his hard drive. "You know it's quite bad form when you don't even know who all your comrades are. And you're the Elite Guard of your world at that..."

"...That name..." Asuka muttered to herself. She knew had heard of him before.

"I know I should know that is," Shinji said as the name tugged at his memories.

"Was Chad a pilot you were aware of Rei?" Shinji asked.

She nodded. "I believe he is the Pilot of Unit-04, currently under testing with the Nevada branch of NERV."

"How crazy is he?" Shinji asked. The only Evangelion pilot that was normal had been him and he had that was due him not being raised and trained to drive an Eva. Though Rei was more robotic and self sacrificing.

"I understand that he takes part in Bicycle Motocross tournaments, with no safety equipment."

"Why didn't they send for him and Eva 04?" Shinji asked sounding confused. "Seriously sounds like fighting a giant monster in a giant robot would be a good time for him."

"Eva-04, as I understand, has a temperamental experimental system that is an integral part of it's construction, which is why it has not been sent for."

"So when is Wheeljack or Braver going to be sent over to work on it?" Asuka interjected. "Those two love to work on things like that."

"An interesting thought, and I am surprised they haven't asked for assistance yet." The First Child admitted.

"Probably the commander," Shinji said making the last word sound vaguely profane. "You know how much he doesn't like when Wheeljack solves problems and usually plasters his solution with the autobrand."

Asuka said something in German that suggested that suggested a water buffalo had been in Commander Ikari's immediate ancestry.

"Yeah Asuka that's kind of why I hope mom had an affair," Shinji commented. He wasn't sure exactly what she said, but he could guess.

She snickered at that. Rei however looked a bit surprised at that comment.

"And I wonder what my mother could have made with the help of the Autobots," Shinji said sadly. "I mean she made some incredible things even without their help..."

Again, an odd feeling swept over him. He looked at Evangelion 01 for a moment and then shook his head. He'd have to ask Wheeljack and the others about that. Maybe LCL exposure was giving his mental powers for all he knew. Given what happened around NERV anything was possible.

He then saw Misato, Colonel Witwicky, General Toru and more coming in to the Eva bay with a horde of Fish men at gunpoint. It was a lot like something from a war film.

With Prowl driving into the eva bay and transforming into robot mode. He then gave a text book perfect military salute.

"General."

General Toru saluted him. "What can I do for you?"

"We would like to know if you had any idea of where Drift was held for," Prowl said dead serious.

The General was equally serious. "Prowl, until about, what, twenty minutes go, I had no idea that Ikari had anything like that up his sleeves."

"Even with our Oversight, there are apparently still ways he can play his games," Misato stated adding her two cents. Toru and Witwicky nodded in agreement.

"Very likely that he has sent all this up before we ever set foot on this world," Prowl remarked. "Rung would have rejected half the senior staff for this place for the Wreckers before you and Colonel Witwicky came here General."

"Which says a lot, doesn't it?" General Toru commanded.

'Just as long as I wasn't included in the rejected pile,' Misato thought to herself. Though she could easily see being asked to cut back on her beer consumption. And was hit by the revelation that she was cutting back like it was Devastator's fist.

"And he is very short sighted," Prowl stated. "As your world has things he hasn't even dreamed of, and your Evangelions even with Wheeljack's upgrades are struggling to keep up."

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your Philosophy." he quoted.

"We have a similar quote," Prowl remarked with a slight hint of amusement, which was a bit surprising to come from the cold and formal tactician.

"Hmm..." Kenji nodded, while on the other side of the bay, the Children were extracted from their Plugs.

"Say," a Captain Lennox asked. "What do you guys call your interstellar nation?"

"The Autobot Commonwealth," Prowl replied.

Lennox nodded thoughtfully.

"General," Shinji called out as he got to the ground level. "I believe Wheeljack or Braver are needed to help get the OS of Eva 04 working effectively."

"I've seen the files on that; it's the one with the experimental Flight systems."

"And believe me General, if Chad Jones wanted to fight giant monsters with a knife...and something tells me would...I won't have minded him being the guardian of this city," Shinji stated. "I never really wanted this job to be honest."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So what is it like driving a transceptor?" Shinji asked Misato.

"It's... it's unlike anything I've ever experienced," she admitted.

Beside Shinji, Asuka rolled her eyes. She knew that Misato was only the first to get one of those units. An entire taskforce of them in the near future won't surprise her.

"Shinji you honestly don't think Wheeljack has a transceptor in his workshop with your name on it...and probably Kensuke's as well."

"Asuka, behave," Misato stated.

"MAGI have you calculated the best match for the Second Child?" Prowl asked. He wasn't sure why Sideswipe and the others wanted to use her as a dating service but she seemed amused by the act. And given she was based off a human mind, should logically have a better understanding what they hoped top accomplish.

After appearing in the Eva bay, she nodded slightly.

"Hey!" Asuka snapped. "My personal life is none of your business."

"Kaji agreed with them," Misato remarked with a smile. The unshaven spy had the been the first to suggest using MAGI to help with the matchmaking.

Asuka grumbled at that.

"And the best choice is...the 6th Child Chad 'Kicker' Jones," MAGI remarked with a bemused expression.

Asuka nearly tripped over her own feet. There was a reason she never talked about him or his production model Evangelion.

"Now that nickname rings a few bells," Shinji admitted. "Very faint memories but they're still there."

Asuka got up, dusted herself off, and staked off to the showers.

"Interesting thing to note," MAGI commented. "The Second Child earned herself the nickname Puncher as a child."

"Kicker, and Puncher," Toru remarked. "That seems very fitting from what I know of them both."

"Now I remember," Shinji said. "Wow...Asuka is Puncher...damn I honestly didn't remember her. But I was four the last time I met her."

Misato nodded. "Go get cleaned up, all of you, I'll want to debrief you when you're done."

Shinji walked off muttering. "Why wasn't Rei there then?"

Misato wondered that as well.

"MAGI, why are children with nick names that they hit things given giant robots?"

" Colonel Witwicky asked in a guarded tone.

MAGI grinned. Toru had a feeling calling MAGI Wheeljack's better half would be a lie.

While Shinji was amazed that he actually knew Asuka before all this. And something Gendo Ikari never mentioned to him at all in his one word letter of course. His expression turned dark as he thought about his 'father'. It was getting clearer and clearer to Shinji that Commander Ikari wasn't really doing a lot to save the world. Or at least as much as he could be doing.

'And I bet I won't like it when they found out 100% sure what LCL is either,' the Third Child mused as he made his way for the showers.

V-V-V

About half an hour later, the three Children were sitting in front of Misato.

Rei was interested to know exactly how Asuka and Shinji knew of the 6th Child. "Shinji exactly how do you and the Second Child both know Pilot Jones?"

"Old family vacations," Shinji said with a shrug. "I really can't remember much about them, but Kicker...is a hard person to forget. No matter how hard you try."

"Is that so?" she asked, leaning forwards in interest.

"He'd slap someone with multiple personalities or whatever the current term is until he got the persona he wanted to talk to," Shinji admitted.

Misato blinked at hearing that. That course of action was insane and extremely crass.

"Unless age gave him wisdom," Shinji admitted.

"Somehow I doubt it," Misato muttered softly.

"And I can't believe," Shinji said looking at Asuka. "That you who I think thought boys were gross date college men."

Rei looked surprised at that statement.

"At least the best to my hazy recollection," Shinji admitted.

Asuka glowered at him.

"Anyway what I can remember about Kicker was that he took risks," Shinji said. "He's not a bad guy, but you want to stay back from when he does something insane."

Misato nodded. "I see."

"And I believe trying to 'Tame the Red Haired Devil' is something he'd attempt?" Rei asked.

Misato coughed, trying to get them back on subject.

"Who calls me that?" Asuka snarled.

Rei grabbed Asuka to keep her from grabbing Shinji. The Third Child pushed his chair back.

Misato separated the two. "That's enough, Asuka." she barked.

"Sorry," Asuka grumbled.

Misato sat back down. "Just try and keep your temper in check from now on, okay?"

"Fine. I'll try" Asuka sighed. "And I punch the first joker to make a Yoda joke."

That drama over with, Misato began to debrief them properly.

"And how is Drift doing?" Shinji asked. He'd asked several Autobots who that swordsman was.

"He's taking it as well as could be expected," Misato said. "It's like what happened to Maya all over again."

"And any idea why our leader happened to have them Transformers bodies and the plans for Headmasters?" Asuka drawled.

"He claims that he got them to act as backups to the Evangelion Units."

Everyone looked at her like that was a pathetic excuse.

"That's what he said, not me," Misato said with her hands out in a stop motion.

Shinji looked at Rei and was surprised even she wasn't taking that excuse. Misato's expression was agreeing with them.

"Did King Nergal die in the explosion?" Asuka mused outloud. His sudden stopping of the mental attack was strange.

"Before that; Megatron annihilated him."

"Any idea what the UN is terming what we have and what their city counts as?" Shinji asked.

"I think that there'll be a special Emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later this evening."

"Will they invite Optimus Prime to it?" Shinji grinned.

"If he isn't there, I'd be very surprised."

"Should we expect the Commander to be asked about his new toys?" Asuka asked.

"If I was there, I'd certainly want an answer."

V-V-V

At said meeting Gendo noticed that a very large seat had been made with the sign "Autobot Commonwealth" written on it in several languages.

'So that is what they call their interstellar nation,' Gendo mused.

He didn't show it, but out of sight, his hands were tearing a small paper napkin to confetti. And it was a loss of control over himself that he loathed. His legendary ability to keep cool in any situation was taking a beating.

Gendo knew the Old Men and their support was likely gone. Due to inaction or being dead. With every day- no, every minute- that passed, the Scenario become more and more ruined.

All because alien robots crash landed on Earth and caused insanity in their wake. People now incinerated the dead or locked them in caskets that no one could get out of, crypto zoology was becoming a true scientific branch after these mermen attacked Tokyo-03. The Angels were now just a threat instead of the threat, and worst was the 3rd Child having a role model that wasn't going to let him down.

All of which rankled him to great lengths.

It seemed the only group left was the group that helped him get his foot in the door to Gerhin. Machination. It had been too long since he'd heard from them. Perhaps it was time to try and get back in touch, he mused.

In a flash of light Optimus Prime appeared. They still weren't able to enlarge to door ways for him to walk or drive into the chamber.

'And here we go...' Gendo thought.

"On behalf of the President of the United States I have a message for Commander Ikari," the US ambassador said with the barest hint of amusement.

"And what is that, Mister Ambassador?"

He threw a shoe at Gendo Ikari and nearly hit him.

"POTUS has broken enough TVs doing that."

One of the Security Council members, the Representative from what was left of New Zealand, held up a scorecard, rating the throw at a 9.4

"Are we done with such childish displays?" Gendo growled.

"He still has another shoe, you know."

"I believe it is in our interest to get to the issue at hand and not take potshots at Commander Ikari," Optimus stated.

"Quite, quite." The Secretary General said firmly.

"First order of business is...what do we do with them?" the Japanese representative asked. "They invaded my nation, and their leader got blown up by Megatron."

There was a muted rumble of discontent around the chamber, which Gendo sought to capitalize upon.

"They are sentient beings," Optimus Prime stated forcefully. "However the real question is...are there more cities of them?"

There was a deep, thoughtful silence at this. With many of the ambassadors wondering what else lurked in the depths of the oceans. And how they'd be able to explore those alien regions of their planet.

"To aid in that, " Optimus Prime said. "Grapple and Hoist have designed a city that could be raised and lowed in and out of any ocean."

There was another, deep and thoughtful pause; this one was tinged with melancholy and nostalgia for the Pre-Impact world. And how amazing it would have been to have the Autobots around then. The world would have been a much better place for that.

he Argentine Ambassador was the first to speak. "Did your subordinates happen to supply any technical schematics or similar that we might examine?"

"They put it up on the internet," Optimus Prime stated. "Wheeljack put up a link to it on his Yatter page."

There was a discreet rustling, as various aides went to find copies. And they hoped the microblog's servers hadn't crashed again due to what Wheeljack had posted about. That seemed to happen every time he put up his various ideas and inventions.

"Ocean City" as it was dubbed was an impressive design. It would be an almost entirely self-sufficient city. It was possibly even a good location for the UN to meet given it would be off a coast and nearly three miles into a sea with a collapsible bridge.

Gendo looked at it for a moment. Another symbol of how wrong the Scenario had gone.

Yes he would have to renew his alliances with Machination. Perhaps then he would be reunited with Yui. Nothing else mattered beyond that goal. Though he wondered what hell would happen next involving the Transformers.

However that plan should work out perfectly. He smiled to himself slightly. No matter what stood in his way, he would find a way to win.


End file.
